Bella's Dawn
by maxigrumpling
Summary: Bk 3 Cullen's Pride, Phoenix Rising now Bella's Dawn. With Renesmee's birth comes a host of new complications. Her gift and her mate brand her a 'problem' from the start. Can Bella and Edward work together to protect her or will they need help from afar?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is the sequel to Phoenix Rising and before that came Cullen's Pride. Please see my profile page to read those stories prior to this one so it all makes sense.**

**Thank you so much for reading this story. I hope you find something to interest you in it.**

**I do not own Twilight, Stephanie Meyer does. I am just lucky enough to get to mess with her wonderful characters.**

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1.

EPOV

**From Phoenix Rising ~ **_"We'd like to introduce you to our daughter. Everyone, this is Renesmee Carlie Masen Cullen." _

_A cheer went up and Bella took the last step and was quickly folded into the crowd as everyone milled around to get a look at the beauty in her mothers arms. _

_I stood on the steps, looking for Seth. _

_I found him sitting on the ottoman. Head in his hands. He was shaking from head to toe and when he lifted his eyes as I came to stand before him I could see how confused and exhausted he really was. _

_I moved closer and put my hand on his shoulder. "Seth, son, it's all right. I'll help you." I told him. I knew the agony of what he was feeling. I knew how the rest of his life was going to pan out, I knew the frustration, the pain, and the waiting he was about to embark on. _

_He lifted his head, stared me in the eye. "Renesmee," he whispered reverently, "She's mine." _

_I nodded solemnly. _

_The only sound in the house after that was a quiet sob from Isabella. _

**BPOV**

I placed my daughter in my mothers arms and watched as she cooed and crooned over her new granddaughter. It was a lovely moment. One I'll remember always.

Everyone was congratulating us, the noise was deafening but didn't seem to bother Renesmee. She just stared, wide eyed, up at whoever was holding her at the time. Her eyes darted, as if cataloguing the faces, from one to another, her little mouth pursed in concentration. I wanted her back, wanting to smell her, hold her against me again, but I knew that everyone else needed time to meet her too. I'd get my chance when I took her home to the cottage.

Edward moved through the assembled crowd – a curious mix of human, vampire and wolf – and was clapped on the back and congratulated prolifically. I'd seen Seth sitting on the ottoman and wondered at his separateness from his pack. Normally, if more than two or three of them were together anywhere they stayed close to each other. It was strange to see Seth apart from his brothers, and his sister Leah. They crowded around the back of the sofa and leaned over to see into the blanket as the baby was passed from person to person. But Seth stayed on the ottoman, his head buried in his hands.

I wanted him to come to me, to hug me, to congratulate me. I wanted Seth to meet my daughter. I was about to move towards him and demand his attention when Edward beat me to it.

I watched as Edward put his hand on Seth's shoulder and then I quirked an eyebrow as he told the young boy that he'd help him, that 'it' was all right.

That was confusing enough, but when Seth turned his face upward I saw the tears running down his cheeks, the hurt and pain in his eyes, when I saw that Edward was trembling in response, I began to panic.

Something was wrong.

I opened my mouth to ask, but Seth spoke first.

"Renesmee, she's mine."

My question dried in my throat and instead I choked out a strangled sob.

**EPOV**

For once I didn't know what to do. I wanted to go to Bella, to comfort her, to tell her that she mustn't panic, but at the same time I didn't want to abandon Seth while he was so desolate.

I took half a second to catalogue who was in the room and who was thinking what and then I acted.

"Sam, take Seth." I called and then fled to where Bella now stood with her mouth agape, staring intently at Seth.

I pulled her around so that she was facing the foyer, away from where Seth sat. Her anger and confusion was palpable, I could feel her temper rising, raising my hackles as she hissed menacingly over her now exposed teeth.

Her mother and father sat only two feet from where she stood and they needed to be gone if she lost her temper like this. That, or Bella needed to leave the house while she vented.

Renee and Charlie were still seated though they were now looking quite upset, Renee's thoughts were ragged, panicked. They were the only people in the room who didn't understand Seth's declaration. They soon would though.

'_Take her outside Edward. I'll explain.' _Carlisle told me. He'd read the situation expertly, thank god. I threw him a quick nod and turned my attention back to Bella.

"Sweetheart, come outside for a moment." I said in a quiet, careful voice.

She just blinked back up at me as if she didn't understand me. She was growling steadily, the low rumble emanating from her chest as though it was out of her control. It probably was, she was so stunned.

I tried again, "Bella, let's get some fresh air." I pulled her hand into mine and led her to the front door, hoping she'd just let me take her out there. She did. She shot a look over her shoulder to where the baby was lying in Renee's arms but then she turned back to me and stepped across the threshold and out into the driveway.

Once we were both standing on the gravel she whipped around and went straight into her crouch, as I knew she would. I wasn't worried or offended, this was instinctual and Bella was nothing if not an instinctual vampire. She was also utterly lethal, I reminded myself before approaching her.

Palms up, my usual pose of supplication where Bella was concerned, I advanced towards her carefully. "It's all right love. It'll be okay. I promise." I offered gently.

"How can you say that?" She snarled, licking her teeth to bring on her venom. "We nearly lost her today and now he thinks she's his? She's barely ours Edward!" She roared, swinging her head from side to side, venom sprinkling the dusty ground.

"I know it feels that way but it's not, I promise. She is ours love. She'll always be ours. He won't hurt her. He loves her." All I wanted was for her to calm down so we could discuss it but she was hell bent on letting her anger consume her.

"Of course you'd side with him, you're the same, you did this too!" She swept a hand gracefully across her body as if to punctuate her point.

Her point had pissed me off, however. If it was anyone besides Bella who'd just said that to me I'd have lunged already. I fought the urge and rolled my shoulders and tilted my head first left then right to release some of the angry tension I felt forming in my muscles there. I swept a hand through my hair, buying myself a few more seconds of precious time before I exploded at my wife.

The only time we'd really fought since Bella had been changed had been when she believed I was having an affair with Rosie and that had been Bella against Rose and me defending.

This was different. This was Bella angry at me and me angry with Bella. This could go very wrong, very fast. She was a newborn but I had a century of skilled practice, I didn't want to hurt her but my resolve not to was stretched tight, like a thin film of self-control. I fought to contain it a little longer.

"I didn't side with anyone Bella." I whispered. It was the only thing I could eek out between my lips that wouldn't enflame her further.

It obviously wasn't what she wanted to hear because she whirled again and came at me head on. If I had've been able to read her I'd have seen the move in her head before she did it, but I couldn't read her so she hit me in the chest and I let her push me backward until I was lying back against the stairs. I refused to fight back and unless she bared her teeth at me I'd let her pummel me all night long if that's what she wanted.

It was.

She flailed against me, cursing a blue streak. Her fist caught my jaw over and over. She kicked and punched me all along the length of my body as she railed.

She let her anger at me consume her. She yelled and swore, cursed me for understanding him and not agreeing with her, she pushed and punched, kicked and fought because I wouldn't fight back. Her rage spewed out of her in angry accusations, her inability to come to terms with what had occurred flew out of her in angry bursts of violence. She tore at me, using her nails to try to penetrate my skin. She couldn't, of course, but she tried.

I could hear the others offering assistance, but I ignored them. This was between my wife and I and I was perfectly able to control the situation as it was.

I let her come at me again and again, feeling her anger abating with each strike.

Her snarls began to change as she unclenched her fists and turned to slapping rather than punching.

Her ragged breaths began to change as her tirade changed from anger to anguish, she was giving in to the pain of what she'd just learned.

I'd let her pin me to the stairs the whole time knowing that when she was spent she'd fall against me and then she'd let me comfort her.

Eventually she did. She punched me in the gut one last time, slapped my cheek one last time, spat at my feet one last time then she stood away a little, looked down to where I laid and let her head fall into her hands.

With a last wail that broke my heart in two she collapsed against my chest and I enveloped her in my arms, holding her tightly to me.

"Shhh, its okay, shhh." I told her over and over. "She's ours love. Shhh." I cooed trying to calm her as she sobbed and sobbed against me. "Shhh, its okay Bella." I told her over and over as she steadied.

We lay there on those steps for more than an hour. Bella sobbed for a good portion of it but said nothing.

Nobody wanted to disturb us but the wolves needed to leave. They had to get back to the Rez and face the elders to explain what had happened today and tonight. Carlisle told them to go through the back and I heard their mental goodbyes as they ran towards the river and phased before running west towards the Rez. Seth's mournful exit hurt me more than I'd ever admit to anyone. I could identify with him more than I ever could before and I was hovering somewhere between the need to flog him and the deep, deep desire to comfort him. For now he'd go back to the Rez and I hoped Sam would take it upon himself to watch over him until I could get there myself.

Emmett and Rose were asked to go to Charlie's and retrieve some things for Bella's parents and to bring it back to the house. They'd stay with us for a few days until things settled down a little. Renee was reluctant to leave Bella and Charlie was reluctant to leave Renee. They'd stay.

Alice and Jasper had excused themselves when I'd taken Bella outside. The emotions of the gathering were affecting Jasper deeply. He'd had to contend with all the terror of the fight today then the euphoria of Renesmee's birth and then all this anger, combined with Seth's anguish. He was spent. Alice would take him hunting and they'd go far enough away that they'd not encounter another living soul, for a few hours at least. Maybe a few days. They'd been known to do that from time to time.

That left four very proud grandparents with their granddaughter. It was now three in the morning and Charlie and Renee were almost spent. Esme handed Renesmee to Carlisle and ushered the two exhausted humans to the guest room on the ground floor. They'd be asleep in seconds.

When Esme returned to the living room she took a moment to watch Carlisle with the baby. Through her thoughts I too could see a very proud man staring down at the copper haired bundle wrapped in pink in his arms. She was staring up at him with wide eyes and he was thinking how perfect she was, how lovely, how loved.

As yet we'd not had a chance to tell anyone of her gift and nobody had discovered if for themselves, so my family and I had a secret again. At once I felt powerful and proud.

I left their thoughts and returned to Bella. Let them have this time with the baby, to discover her, for her to discover them.

I had been stroking Bella's hair, she was tucked into the crook of my neck but she'd stopped sobbing a while ago. Now she just lie there, quite still, just snuggled into my arms where she belonged. I didn't want to speak, to break the lovely calm I now felt, but I knew we had to talk at some point. I kissed the top of her head then whispered "Bella, sweetheart. Let's run a little, we need to talk darling."

**BPOV**

I was so, so angry I couldn't help myself. I'd hit him! Oh my god. I'd just beaten my husband!

I couldn't look at him. I couldn't speak.

He wanted to run with me, to talk, but I was glued to his chest, unable to face what I'd just done.

"Bella, please." He begged, attempting to lift me off his chest a little.

I only clutched him tighter. If he saw my eyes he'd know, he'd know how guilty I felt. I wasn't sure what I wanted anymore. I couldn't face Edward but I wanted my daughter. I couldn't go inside and face my family, they'd all heard what I'd done. I couldn't face Seth or the pack.

The more Edward tried to soothe me the angrier I got. Each time he called me love or sweetheart I had to swallow the venom pooling on my tongue. When he stroked my hair I cringed internally. I wanted to twist my way out of his arms, latch onto his fingers and snap them.

How dare he side with Seth, over me, his wife. How dare he try to placate me, tell me Seth wouldn't hurt her, that she was still ours even though Seth had just claimed her for himself. How fucking dare he!

Edward reached down my body and pulled my left hand to his lips. He kissed my wedding rings and held my hand to his chest. "Bella, let's run a little. Come on. Renesmee can hear us if we talk here." He tried again.

I leapt away from him then. He was worried that our daughter could hear him condoning what he'd already pretty much agreed to let happen? Oh that was rich! "We won't be far" I said so as to let Esme and Carlisle know and then I turned and headed down the driveway, through the trees and towards the meadow.

He was following but not running beside me as we usually would. At once I didn't regret the loss of being able to read him. I didn't want to read him anymore. Not if he was thinking the foul, vile thoughts he was. He was willing to let a wolf have our daughter! Our less-than-one-day-old daughter at that!

I stopped running when the tree with our initials carved in it came into view. I stood for a few seconds staring at it. I ran my fingers through the carved letters and sighed. Things had felt so uncomplicated then, despite my having fallen in love with a vampire. He loved me, I loved him. We had our future spread out in front of us, we were enjoying each other, and learning about each other still when he'd carved this for me. He'd assured me that the wolf problem would sort itself out and we'd be together. It really had felt very simple then.

"Do you still?" He asked as he came to stand behind me.

"Do I still what?" I asked rather caustically.

"Do you still love me Isabella?" He choked out. I could hear the fear and pain in his voice as he asked but couldn't quite bring myself to play my part to make it all disappear for him.

Instead I turned to face him, "I do love you Edward, but right now I don't like you very much." It was the best I could do without wanting to hit him again.

"I expect you don't." It wasn't the response I expected. I assumed he'd beg for my forgiveness. I thought he'd grovel. I wanted him to grovel. I wanted him to fall to his knees and tell me that I was right, that it was a stupid idea, that he'd never allow Seth to have our daughter.

Instead he stood and faced me square on. Defiance, pain and fear on his face. His anger was still barely contained under his skin. His fists clenched and rigid at his sides.

He wasn't sorry.

"You're not sorry." I said, matter of factly.

It wasn't a question and he didn't answer it as one. "No." Was all he said.

"You're going to let this happen no matter what I think?" That I posed as a question. I needed him to be very, very clear about this and I told him so, "Be very clear with your answer Edward, it will matter." I warned.

"It doesn't matter what we think Bella." Again it wasn't the answer I'd expected. "It's done. It's not a choice, for him or us. We can't stop it because it can't be stopped, love." He said it softly, closing the distance between us minutely. "He couldn't help it and he felt so fucking sorry for feeling it in the first place, he was terrified of our reactions. He couldn't help it anymore than I could the day I saw you." He whispered against my temple, his hands coming to rest on my shoulders. "It was so powerful that it was already done simply from her scent Bella. He didn't even need to lay his eyes on her, it was done from scent alone. You can't fight that."

I whimpered as he folded me into his arms. We couldn't stop it. I knew it was the truth. But I didn't want it to be.

**EPOV**

I felt the fight leave her body as she fell against me once again. She knew how this worked, she just didn't want to have to face it. I hated to be the one to remind her that Seth had no choice in how he felt now, but I'd had to do it anyway. I saw the fight, the fire, drain from her face as she surrendered to what she knew was the truth.

I pulled her to me and hugged her fiercely.

There was so much to say, so many things I could tell her to reassure her but all I wanted was to hear her say she loved me.

I waited until her trembling calmed a little and then I began to speak slowly, carefully, and reverently. I wanted to talk, not fight. "He has no choice Bella. But that doesn't mean Renesmee has no choice. You know that. I told you that when it was us going through this. You had a choice, she'll have the same choice, love." I let that sink in before I continued, "This was powerful Bella, this began before she was born, way before. His draw to you, the way he looked at you, the need to protect you, it was her Bella. All along. It was Renesmee." I could feel her nodding against my chest as she took in what I'd said. She knew it was true, she'd felt it too. "You don't feel about him the way you did before do you? You aren't drawn to him like you were, are you?" I asked. I hoped I was right. I'd hated the way she sought him out, the way he drew her aside so they could be alone all the time. I'd loathed the way they were so insular. I hated that she would hold his hand, let him touch her belly, tell him she loved him. If I was wrong now that may never cease and I'd have to spend eternity dealing with it.

"You're right Edward. I do feel differently." She admitted and I let go the breath I'd been holding.

I smoothed her hair again, kissed her temple and kept going. "See? That's a good thing. Because the whole time he thought as though he should be protecting you he inadvertently needed to protect Renesmee. That's a good thing Bella." I told her, hoping she could see my logic. She nodded a little and that spurred me on, "Okay, so it's changed for you just the way it's changed for him. That's as it should be. But I have to say this now, so you can make sense of this for yourself Bella. You saw something in Seth, you grew to love him because he protected you, because he cared about you. Aren't they things you want for our daughter too?" I was treading very cautiously and hoped she'd see reason.

"Of course they are, but we've only just got her ourselves Edward. Already he's going to want to protect her, do things for her." She whined.

"He wants the same things we do for her. I know this because I've been there. He wants her to be happy, to have everything she needs, everything she wants, he just wants what she wants and he wants to be the man to give it to her. That's all for now."

"It's the for now part that bothers me Edward." She whispered.

"I know. I know it is. It's that part that bothered Phil too, remember? But you are a testament to that Bella, how that works. I never made myself known to you until you had reached maturity, and while Seth and Renesmee will know each other her whole life, he won't see her that way until she's ready to be seen. You have to believe me. Do you honestly think I'll let him anywhere near her if it was any other way? Until you turned seventeen I didn't see you that way either. I swear it." I told her. The burning ache I'd felt for her all her life had never been a sexual hunger until just this past year. She knew that, we'd discussed this. She'd even talked through this with Emmett and Carlisle.

"I'm sorry I hit you." She mumbled and I smiled.

"It's okay. I won't bruise." I chuckled.

"I know, but I'm still sorry. And for the things I said. I didn't mean them, mostly." She clarified.

"I think you and I both know that's a lie Isabella." I laughed lightly. "But you were right. I am the son of a bitch who's going to let a wolf near my daughter. I am the motherfucker who's going to lose her to him eventually. And most sadly of all, I am the fucking bastard who'll help him get through it. I wish I could say I was sorry for that, but I'm not, not really. I'd be a hypocrite if I was."

"I didn't mean it, if I could take it back I would." She whispered against my chest.

"No you wouldn't." I chuckled. "I know you think I'm being disloyal by saying I'm going to help him, but I cant let him spend his life thinking we hate him for something that's out of his control, love. I remember how it felt, to be apart from you when there was absolutely no way I could be near you safely for some reason. He's going to be spared that pain if I can help it. Give it some time, please?" I implored her.

She pulled away from me then and I thought I'd said something to set her off again, but she just went to sit on the big rock. I went too but I stood between her knees and held her hand in mine. When she looked up at me, finally, her face was calmer, more serene. "Okay Edward. I'll give it some time, for now. I really am sorry for hitting you, for the things I said. I just lost it. Can you ever forgive me?"

I smiled my bestest ever crooked smile, "I tell you what, if you can find a mark on me I'll say there is something to forgive. Where do you want to start the search?" I waggled my eyebrows and she giggled. It was the most beautiful sound I'd heard for hours.

She swatted my chest with her fingers but all the anger, the stress, the pain was gone from her features now. "You're incorrigible Edward." She giggled again.

"Hey, I'm a lot of things" I marked them off on my fingers as I listed them, "Insatiable, creepy I think you once called me, a smart ass if I remember correctly, a freak but that could've been Alice, I don't remember. I definitely remember you calling me annoying at one stage, was it you who said I was an Emo? I bet it was. Oh yes, you once said I was desperately hot if I recall it right. Now you're saying I'm incorrigible? Oh Bella, you have no idea."

With that I swept her off the rock and deposited her on the long grass and covered her mouth with mine.

"I love you Bella." I told her as I peeled her jersey away from her skin.

"And I love you too Edward. Always." She told me as my lips descended to her now exposed, pitch black and highly raised tattoo.

**BPOV**

"So I guess that answers that question?" Edward chuckled as we rolled to our sides.

"Yeah, I guess so." I laughed.

We'd both been wondering if, now that I couldn't read Edward's mental voice, that meant we couldn't 'hear' each other during sex now too. We could.

It was just as amazing, just as connected, just as scintillating as it had always been between us.

"So, when you meet Eleazar and he catalogues your gift you're going to be mighty embarrassed Mrs Cullen." Edward had teased.

"Who or what is Eleazar? And why would he be cataloguing gifts?" I asked as I pulled my jeans back on and straightened my jersey.

Edward laughed again and stood, offering me his hand, pulling me up against him. He kissed me softly on my temple, grabbed my hand and began walking with me back towards the house. "Eleazar is a vampire obviously, he and his mate Carmen are occasional members of the Denali coven. They were unable to come to the wedding because they had already agreed on a trip to visit the Romanians, but Eleazar has assured me that both he and Carmen will come soon to meet both you and Renesmee." He told me as we walked. I'd heard of them of course, but I hadn't heard of these Romanians before.

"Eleazar can feel gifts?" I asked, not sure what the right terminology would be. Did one feel someone's gift or read it, or see it or what?

"Yes he can. Straight away, he's very good at it. He knew immediately what I could do and Alice too. He'll be able to know what Renesmee can do the instant he meets her. So that won't stay a secret long." He chuckled. "He used to be a member of the Romanian contingent though he's been with Carmen for centuries now. He was a spotter. He could feel what a human would bring with him or her if they were changed. If he'd met me as a human he would've known I could read minds once I was changed. I wonder what he'll make of you." He mused.

The sun was coming up before we made it back to the big house. I felt so bad for the way I'd behaved and then, after all that, we'd buggered off and left the baby with her grandparents on her very first night!

So far we sucked at being parents.

We went in through the front doors and both stopped and sighed happily at what sight greeted us.

Carlisle was lying on the sofa on his back with a sleeping Renesmee on his chest. She was still wrapped in the pink blanket and I assumed she was still totally naked. She was snuffling contentedly as she slept and Carlisle was running her curls through his fingertips as he watched her. He had the most peaceful look on his face.

Esme was in the kitchen, I could hear her moving about. The rest of the house was silent except for my fathers snores. Alice and Jasper hadn't returned and Emmett and Rose were out too.

I moved toward the sofa and Carlisle looked up at me and mouthed the word hello as I came nearer.

I ran a hand over my sleeping daughters back. "Thank you" I whispered to Carlisle who smiled warmly and nodded.

I turned back to Edward who was making his way towards the sofa now too. "I'm just going up to our room, I'll be right back." I told him and he nodded.

I flew up the stairs and grabbed my camera out of its bag from my desk. I took it with me, setting it up on the way, and when I came to the top floor landing I leaned over so that I could see the entire living room beneath me.

I began clicking shot after shot. Carlisle's face as he watched Renesmee sleep. Edward's face as he watched her, the look that passed between father and son as they held a silent conversation.

Esme's expression when she came back into the room and sat near Carlisle's head. I snapped a shot of her hand as she smoothed Renesmee's curls. I took another of the utter devotion on her face as she watched my daughter sleep on her husbands chest.

I stood for a few more minutes just watching the scene and I thought about all that Edward had said in the meadow. She was ours. All of ours, but most especially mine and Edward's. But I also knew that in a few short years she would be Seth's. All parents, at some point, had to let their child go and be with whom they wanted for themselves, I knew that. What was bitter sweet for me, as I watched Renesmee wriggle and wake on her grandfathers chest, was the fact that most parents got a good eighteen or twenty years to come to terms with that sad fact of life. I didn't even get one day.

**EPOV**

Of course we could all smell and hear Bella on the high landing but we all ignored it, knowing that the whirring and clicking noise was her capturing this glorious scene for all posterity.

Carlisle was especially blissful as Bella captured him lying with my daughter on his chest. His thoughts ranged from how envious he was to how proud he was of Bella and me. He was astounded at Renesmee's beauty, how she'd seemed to have inherited parts of both Bella and myself and combined them. He was shocked how serene she was, how content to lie there with him, how trusting she was of all of them. Of course he didn't know yet that she knew them all, quite well. That she was extraordinarily intelligent, capable of conversing with me, able to communicate with everyone in her own way already. I knew that when he did learn that he'd fall impossibly further in love with the tiny creature that now stirred on his chest.

Nessa – I'd heard Seth call her that in his head last night and I'd liked it straight away – stretched her little arms languidly. She opened her eyes and stared at Carlisle as though she was ready for him to start chatting with her. She looked so expectant I couldn't help the low chuckle I let out.

Bella was giggling softly as she came down the stairs to where the five of us sat in the living room. I moved off the end of the sofa and came around to kneel on the floor beside where Carlisle lie, so I could see Nessa's face. I smiled at her.

'_Hello daddy.' _She told me and my heart soared!

"Hello beautiful girl." I told her and dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head.

Bella came and sat beside me and stroked her back. "Good morning little one."

I looked to Bella, I wanted desperately to ask if we should explain our baby's ability but she beat me to it. "I see you've met your grandparents already? Can I see?" Bella asked.

Carlisle and Esme were confused but watched with interest as Nessa uncurled her tiny fingers and reached for Bella's cheek. Bella closed her eyes as the baby showed her her memory of meeting Carlisle and Esme for the first time. I watched through Nessa as she matched their scent to what she already knew of them from what I'd told her before she was born. She showed Bella how the others had told her goodbye before leaving her with only Esme and Carlisle. How they'd wrapped her tightly and warmly in her little blanket after checking her over first. How Esme had sung softly – Renesmee recalling in perfect detail every sound Esme had made – as Carlisle had rocked her to sleep on the sofa.

Renesmee stopped the vision with us as we were right then, sitting in front of her while she laid on Carlisle's chest and Bella let her hand fall back down. "Thank you sweetheart" Bella whispered and stroked Nessa's curls once more.

She sat back on her haunches and then stood, taking the seat I'd had before.

Carlisle and Esme had no idea what they'd just witnessed but they were both dying to ask. Esme broke first. "Edward?" She pled.

I smiled then laughed. "May I?" I asked Carlisle, who nodded. I scooped Nessa up into my arms and sat with her on the sofa next to Bella. I held her to my chest, keeping her warm in her blanket. "She's gifted." I told them blatantly.

"Of course she is." Carlisle crowed, laughing heartily. "With parents like you two she was bound to be."

"I guess she was." I told him as I kissed her mop of copper curls. "Nessa, sweetheart, can you show grandpa when you first met him, please?" I asked her gently. She smiled, showing me her little teeth and I chuckled as Carlisle gasped loudly.

"Hang on, what did you just call her?" Bella demanded before I had a chance to hand her to Carlisle.

I laughed, I knew this was going to be an issue. "Nessa, I called her Nessa. Don't you like it?" I asked.

"Actually I do, its sweet. Do you like it little one?" She leaned over and asked the baby. Bella looked to me to confirm or deny the baby's reaction to it.

"What do you think baby girl? Would you prefer Renesmee or Nessa?" I asked.

She scrunched up her tiny nose and concentrated hard for a second. _'Nessa, till I'm grown, then Renesmee.' _She answered without hesitation. Even I was shocked. She was so startlingly intelligent. It scared me a little.

"If I told you how she'd worded this you'd never believe me, so I'll just say she likes Nessa." I looked around at the startled faces in the room and then asked Nessa to show grandpa her memory.

I handed her to him and he settled her in his lap. She held out her fist to him and he looked to me. "I just let her touch me, right?" He asked and I nodded. I watched through Nessa's thoughts as she showed him the same scene she'd just shown Bella. He jumped slightly at first but as she moved through her recollection of the lovely meeting a wide smile came over his face. "Thank you Nessa." He said warmly, as though she was decades old and not just one day. He immediately knew and understood the depth of her intelligence. "Can you show grandma too?" He asked politely.

Esme reached for her at the same time she reached for Esme and I heard both Carlisle and Bella sigh in happiness. Esme followed Carlisle's lead and let Nessa touch her chin. She too startled slightly but soon she was happy to let the little girl show her their first meeting. Esme kissed Renesmee's cheek and hugged her tightly when the memory faded. "Thank you Nessa." Esme told the smiling baby in her lap. "She's so incredible Edward. I'm so happy for you Bella."

I couldn't have said it better myself.

* * *

**A/N: If you would be so kind, please review, it would be most appreciated. Thank you for reading. **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 - Points off for the dismount Edward

2.

**BPOV**

As the sun came over the river we said our goodbyes and took our daughter home to the cottage for the first time. Edward was hesitant but I'd insisted. I wanted to bathe her and dress her, I wanted to have her all to ourselves if only for a few hours.

So we walked home with her. Edward had her cradled carefully in his arms. Her tiny pink nose poking out from the folds of the blanket.

We took her straight into our bedroom and laid her down on the huge white bed. Edward began running water into the tub in our bathroom and I lay down on the bed with her while we waited for him to join us.

When he did he positioned Nessa between us and leaned over and kissed the top of first her head, then mine.

"Welcome home ladies." He whispered.

"Will you stay with her while I go and collect some clothes and towels?" I asked him. He nodded but he was already lost in his daughter, probably having a silent conversation with her already.

I turned the taps off in the bathroom and lined the floor with a towel, ready to take Nessa when she was clean. When I went back into the bedroom Edward had her on his chest, holding her against his bare skin, his eyes closed. I'd never seen anything so beautiful in my whole life.

"She asked to feel my skin." He mumbled. "She's wondering why hers is different to ours. I didn't know what to tell her, but figured we'd tell her the truth, together." He said quietly, his eyes still closed. His long fingers running from the base of her spine to up under her curls and back again, her little bottom tucked into the palm of his other hand.

"Stay put." I begged, running out the door and into the living room to fetch my camera. I ran back in, already setting the lighting and shutter speeds. I clicked off half a dozen shots then went to the other side of the room and did the same. She looked so tiny up against his long torso, pale on pale. His hipbones in stark contrast to the smooth lines of her fleshy back and pudgy legs. She looked so content, eyes shining, little teeth gleaming with her subtle smile. It was obvious that she was enjoying every minute of contact with her father. Edward's serene expression told me he was enjoying the feel of her against him too.

I waited until she closed her mouth into a more 'baby-like' expression and took a few more shots. I wanted human poses too, a few pictures that I could show someone one day, maybe a human I'd be able to brag to about my perfect baby. An almost adolescent smile and rows of teeth do not a day old baby make!

"She's so tiny." Edward whispered. "So warm."

"She is. Do we feel cold to her?" I asked.

Without hesitation he answered me, Nessa obviously heard and understood my question instantly. "She says not really. A little cooler maybe, but not enough that she wants me to put my shirt back on." He chuckled.

"I know what she means." I giggled, thinking back to the many nights I'd spent asleep next to Edward when I'd been human. Nothing could've made me ask him to put his shirt on. Not even hypothermia!

Edward was laughing then. "Remind me to ask you what you meant by that later Mrs Cullen."

"I will." I sat on the edge of the bed and ran my hand over the baby's back. She was warm. Very warm. "Your skin is different to mine and your daddy's because you are the very best of both of us Nessa." I told the tiny creature. She flicked her eyes up to my face and held my gaze as I spoke. If it weren't for her tiny body I'd swear it was like conversing with an adult. She just held my gaze and took in all that I said. "I was a human when we made you, so you have a part of my humanity inside you. Your daddy has been a vampire for a very long time, so you have part of him inside you too. That makes you special and us very, very lucky." I told her before kissing her hair.

Renesmee uncurled her tiny fist from between her and her father and held it out to me. I moved closer, letting her fingers touch my cheek, knowing she wanted to show me something. The instant her skin touched mine she showed me the last few moments of conversation as she remembered them. I saw myself as she saw me, in reverse. It was strangely eerie. I 'listened' to the words I'd spoken as she heard them. When she was finished she let her hand fall away and then I looked to Edward so he could tell me what she'd been thinking.

"She was just cementing the connection between you and her. That it was you she was inside of and it's me who spoke to her then. She wanted to place us, I guess. Now that she's here, with us, she's putting us where we belong to her. Mother, father, daughter. Father vampire, mother human back then, baby half of each now. She's made the connection love." He told me proudly.

"How about we get her into that tub and then into some clothes?" I asked, too astonished to take in too much more amazement for one day.

I plucked her off Edward's body and held her to me tightly. Edward followed me into the bathroom and began to shed his pants. He took the baby from me while I shed my own clothes and then we slid into the warm water with our daughter.

**EPOV**

My girls were the most beautiful things I'd seen in over a hundred years.

Nessa had loved the water. We'd bathed her carefully, both unsure just what we were doing. But we managed all right and at the end we had a clean baby, so I guess we did rather well for a first attempt.

I knew that we wouldn't always get in the tub with her, there was another small bathroom at the cottage, with a regular sized tub and I knew that the baby would be bathed there as a rule. But I did really enjoy our daughters first bath and being able to be a part of it.

We'd dressed Nessa in a little all in one suit with little feet in it. I'd never seen such a thing but Bella said it was normal baby wear and it would keep her warm. Renesmee had lain perfectly still while Bella dressed her and she made quick work of it. What took longer was drying the baby's hair. Her curls were stuck to her head and neither of us thought it was a good idea to use a hair dryer so I toweled it as dry as possible and then we'd brushed it and brushed it until it shone. Nessa told me over and over how nice it felt. I quickly told her I'd do that for her after every bath if she'd like, she'd quickly agreed.

I could feel my pride trying to burst out of my chest at that.

Bella had dressed in a pale blue jersey and some tight fitted jeans, making me wish the baby was ready for another sleep!

They were both, equally, beautiful to me, but for very different reasons.

It was afternoon by the time we'd finished with the bath and the getting dressed. In all that time Renesmee hadn't been left untouched at all. At all times one of us was touching her. It didn't occur to me until I heard Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett running towards the cottage for a visit. I told Bella they were coming and said I'd go to the door to greet them. Bella said she'd finish getting the baby ready and would meet me in the living room. It was only then that I realized neither of us wanted to be parted from her, at all. Touching her, holding her, bathing her, dressing her…any and all physical connections with her were important to us both.

The mental voices of my siblings were loud but their physical approach was not.

They ran full tilt but there was no whooping or hollering to announce their approach as there always had been. Each of them was tempering their anticipation of seeing the baby with the knowledge that their usual demeanors could waken or frighten her.

So it was four very quiet, respectful vampires who knocked gently on my front door at twilight.

"Come on in guys, she's awake." I told them and then they began to talk normally, knowing they wouldn't wake her up.

They streamed into the cottage and settled themselves in various chairs and sofas in the living room. Bella bought Nessa out of our bedroom and after the greetings were made she was asked, not so politely, to please relinquish the baby and bugger off for a bit.

I knew she wouldn't want to leave so I excused myself, telling Bella I needed to speak with Carlisle and then Sam and that I'd go and do that at the big house.

She kissed me goodbye and while it felt normal to me, with the usual amount of trepidation at our parting, I knew she wasn't at all happy about the situation with Seth and my wanting to contact the pack. "I'm only going to call Bella, they won't come here uninvited." I told her, hoping that was what she needed to hear from me. It was. I drew her to me and kissed her hard. I'd take her mind off it by letting her spill a secret. "Why don't you explain to them Nessa's gift while I'm gone love?" I chuckled as her eyes widened with pleasure.

"She's gifted?" Emmett bellowed, startling the baby, making her whimper a little and earning Emmett a slap up the side of his head from his wife and his sister.

I bent to drop a kiss on my daughters mop of copper curls and then flew out the door to see my parents and Bella's. The confusion of mental voices flooded my head as I ran. The cottage was buzzing with excitement at the news of my daughters intelligence and talents and I couldn't have been happier.

I found both sets of parents on the decking as I approached the house. Charlie sat between Renee's knees, Esme between Carlisle's. The humans were sipping what smelled like tea.

"Well look who it is folks. The proud daddy!" Charlie called as I flew up the steps and took a seat opposite him and Renee.

"How are they darling?" Esme asked.

"Perfect." I beamed at her. "We had her in the tub this morning, she loved it. She's dressed now too, though those suits they wear, the ones with the little feet in them, they do my head in." I chuckled.

"I had a dad who dropped his two month old son off to crèche one morning in one of those suits. He'd put it on backwards, so all the snaps were done up the poor little guy's back. That wasn't so bad, I could just turn it around, but it was inside out too!" Renee laughed, making Esme cackle at the visual.

'_Has Bella hunted Edward?'_ Carlisle asked silently. I shook my head ever so slightly, knowing he'd be watching for my response. _'Get her out there soon, son. We have no idea what her actual thirst is like, seeing as all along it's been driven by the baby.' _

In answer to that I began another line of conversation, knowing Carlisle would pick up the common thread. "We've got an interesting conundrum for you Carlisle. Bella and I will need to hunt tonight, obviously, but what or how do we feed the baby?"

He snorted as the question sunk in. "You know, I've never given it too much thought. That seems stupid now, doesn't it?" He laughed.

"I didn't think of it either. I was so consumed by actually getting to this point I never thought of what would happen after." I admitted.

"We could try her on baby formula." Renee suggested, which stunned me. I tilted my head, urging her to go on. "Well, you said she was half human half vampire and Nathaniel said he could eat things from either diet, so it's worth a try, right?"

"Thank god one of us thought to ask that question Renee! Well done!" Carlisle smiled widely at her and she smiled back proudly.

"Come on granddad, let's go buy some bottles and formula for your granddaughter." She tugged Charlie's sleeve and they headed to the guest room to collect wallets and keys.

Carlisle was chuckling quietly and Esme was smiling to herself, replaying her meeting with Nessa last night. She turned her face up to me, "What will happen with Seth?" she asked carefully.

I ran a hand through my hair and shuddered at the memory of my own dismay, the pain of being apart from Bella those first few, strange days after I'd imprinted on her. I blew out a breath before I answered, "I don't know Esme. Bella is going to be difficult, at least at first, but I feel as though I can't abandon the boy. I know what he's feeling right now. But I don't see any way around the separation for now."

"Has there been word from the Rez?" Carlisle asked.

"Not yet, no. It was very late when they left last night so I hope they're all just sleeping it off. That's part of why I'm here actually. I'd like to talk to Sam but don't want to call from the cottage, may I?" I asked and Carlisle swept his hand to the backdoor.

"This is still your home Edward, you know you don't have to ask." Esme scolded me as I went in through the glass doors.

**BPOV**

"I've already sent for pink clothes Bella, they'll be here on Monday." Alice told me as we changed Nessa into another little suit. Rose and Alice had insisted on bathing her, despite my having already told them she'd had a bath this morning. They'd told me to shut up and had taken her into the little bathroom between her nursery and the door to our bedroom.

I went back to the living room to wait with Em and Jaz.

"I'm starting work Monday morning on your suite at the big house sis." Emmett announced as I took a seat in the wingchair.

"Alice and I have to go to school tomorrow, but we're going to help when we get back." Jasper offered.

"Thanks guys. I really appreciate that." I told them both. "So, Uncle Jaz, Uncle Em…?" I trailed off.

"Yeah, Uncle Em, I like it. She's great sissy, awesome." Emmett said wistfully, as though he was in a trance.

"Peter was ragging on me, you know, Uncle Jaz and all that, but I like it too. Does she like being called Nessa?" He asked.

"Edward says she does, yes. It's sort of stuck, already." I laughed lightly.

"It suits her. Its kinda girly but it suits her." Emmett mumbled.

"Well duh, she's a girl." Alice trilled from the back of the cottage.

"No shit." Emmett grumbled.

Jaz was on him in a heartbeat, pummeling him into the sofa. "You can't swear around a baby dipsh…" He trailed off, falling off Emmett so fast he was a blur. When he got to his feet he clamped a hand over his mouth in horror at his near mistake.

"Yeah dude, don't swear with a baby in the house." Emmett was howling with laughter.

Jasper looked at Emmett, Emmett looked at Jasper then they both chorused, "Sorry Nessa." The cottage erupted into laughter at that.

**EPOV**

"What news of the Rez?" Carlisle asked as he came into his study.

I replaced the phone into its cradle and shifted from his seat to the visitors chair. "Sam tells me they've informed the elders and the tribunal will meet tonight. Seth apparently has to stand before them and declare his 'interest' for want of a better word, in Renesmee." I told him.

"Does he need to ask their permission to be near her?" It was a good question.

"I don't think so, no. It's more that he needs to be the one to tell the elders who his imprint is, they record it I think."

"And Seth? How is he?" He steepled his hands and was thinking about how I looked and sounded the day after he'd told me all about imprinting.

I laughed a little as I followed his thoughts, "Yes, I'd wager he's feeling a little bewildered just like I did. Sam says he's eaten and he's slept. That's a start." I squinted and grimaced as I remembered the agony of being separated from her those first months. Poor bastard.

"What are you thinking Edward?" Carlisle asked astutely. He knew me so very well it was difficult to hide anything from him, despite me being the one able to read his mind.

"I haven't fleshed out a plan if that's what you're asking, but I have given it some minor thought." I chuckled, "He's going to need to see her, however blatant the excuse. I don't want to have it be behind Bella's back, so that's going to take arranging." I said glumly.

"Do you really think she'll keep them apart long term?" He asked sadly.

"I don't know. I can't read her so I don't know what her motivations are on this. I think, right now, it's about propriety. Nessa is ours. Bella is still reeling from nearly having lost her. We've only just gotten her for ourselves and I can understand her unwillingness to share."

"I can too, but Seth will be hurting. I know you remember how that felt." He prodded.

"Of course I do and in some ways that will make it easier for Seth, me being able to sympathize. But it's not me who's going to keep them apart. I cannot discount her feelings on this. I won't. I'll do my best to bring her around. But for now I want to be alone with my family as much as she does." I couldn't help the smug smile that came over my face as I thought of my girls as my 'family'.

"I've had some thoughts about the feeding issue." He announced, breaking the tension of the conversation. "What Renee said makes sense. If Nessa – I adore that nickname by the way – can accept human food she should. It will make it much easier for her to move amongst them when she's older. But, if she craves blood we have to indulge her that. It may be an important part of her growing process. I'll have to talk more with Nathaniel and Aro about that, but I think it's safe to say that whatever she will accept is what she should have for now."

"That makes sense. I can see where you're coming from too. The question is how do we get animal blood for her?"

His smirk and his matching maniacal laugh made me think he'd had an idea about that too. The phone beside him ringing put paid to me asking of his plans.

"Hello…yes Alice…oh, right, thank you. Excellent…yes, I'll tell him. Bye love." He put the phone down and smiled widely. "Alice, she says my plan will go ahead unhindered, as you heard. She also said to tell you that you are her favorite brother now and that Emmett is pissed." He chuckled but continued, "Doctor Tony Roberts, the hematologist from Seattle General is a friend of mine. He's been looking for patients to go onto a new blood trial project, I've resisted before, citing a lack of patients in the area with the symptoms he's looking for for the trial. I think it's time I invented a few more cases." He grinned smugly. "The trial uses pigs blood Edward. You know it's the closest match for human blood there is without resorting to synthetics. I'd have a supply of it on hand for the next year, at least, if I opened Forks up to the trial."

"Brilliant." I congratulated him on his thinking and he promised to contact Tony first thing Monday morning. "Until then I think we should try the baby formula. If she won't take that I'll bleed something into a bottle for her." I cringed at the thought but I had no doubt I'd be able to do it.

"Would it be alright if we came down later? We'll be quick." Carlisle asked.

"We'll bring her up here grandpa." I teased. "I need to hunt, Bella will too. If we try the formula and she won't take it can we leave her here while we hunt? I'll bring something back for her." That would be awkward with Charlie and Renee in the house, but we'd manage.

"Oh yes please." Came Esme's voice from downstairs.

Carlisle only laughed and waved me out the door.

**BPOV**

Edward shooed our visitors out the door with promises to bring the baby to the big house later tonight. We put Nessa into her little crib for the first time and stood at the door watching her sleep. I wanted to spend some alone time with Edward but couldn't bring myself to leave her alone.

She was still slightly unreal to me, as though she might be an apparition, merely a dream. I'd held her and felt her smooth skin, I'd bathed her and changed her clothing but she still felt as though she might be a figment of my imagination. One that could be taken from me so easily.

Edward stood beside me, his taller frame behind me as we blotted out the doorframe of the nursery. Her lovely snuffling noises soothing us as we watched.

Edward bent and nuzzled along my neck, pulling my hair aside and I sighed contentedly.

"Bella…" he whispered, "let her sleep, come away with me." He punctuated each segment of his request with a wet open-mouthed kiss that ignited my skin.

I let him pull me down the hallway and into our bedroom. He led the way to the bed and then stood with his calves up against it as he pulled me to him and then down onto the bed so that I was above him. I wanted him so very badly. It felt like an age since we'd last made love even though it was a short fourteen hours ago in the meadow. He snaked his hands into my hair and pulled my mouth to his effectively destroying any and all thoughts I had of protesting.

I groaned into his mouth as his hands left my hair and traveled the length of my back. His hardness pushed up into my belly and I ground my hips down onto him, hoping to increase the friction. I was rewarded with a deep groan from him as I pushed myself harder into him. He held me tightly and rolled us so that I was pinned underneath him.

He left my mouth and trailed kisses across my cheek and into my ear, down my neck and eventually across my collarbone to where my tattoo would be. He kissed it once above my shirt then pulled the collar of it aside so he could see it.

His self-satisfied grin told me that it was now inky black and raised. "You're fucking perfect" he whispered, "but very overdressed."

He let me sit up slightly so I could remove my jersey and he did the same to his, throwing it across the room and to the floor. I traced a line with a fingertip down his chest, round his navel and down through the golden hair between his hips. His astounding beauty hit me full on in the chest, my desire for him rapidly lurching out of control inside me. I pulled him to me hungrily, insisting he put his lips back on mine. I bit down roughly on his tongue as it darted between my parted lips and he growled deeply into my waiting mouth.

With a wild buck of his hips he showed me how badly he wanted me and then all I could think about then was getting him out of his jeans. I used my hips then my knees to make him sit back onto his haunches. While his weight was off me I undid my own jeans and shoved them down my thighs. He made no move so I left them at my knees. I reached for his button and sliced it off with my fingernail, I smirked up at him cheekily and slid his zip all the way down. I no longer cared if he discarded his jeans I just wanted his cock in my hand and then inside me. I forced his boxers down just enough to reach inside and I took his length into my palm. He hissed and closed his eyes as I wrapped my fingers around him fully.

I only stroked him fully once from base to tip before he pushed my shoulders back onto the mattress and roughly pulled my jeans off my legs. I heard the seams burst on his now ruined jeans as he tore them from his legs, a similar fate awaited his boxers and they were soon joining our puddle of clothing on the floor.

He forced my knees apart with his, licked his bottom lip once and then plunged himself into me fully.

'_Oh fuck Bella…so wet…so good…I need you so badly…'_ He told me via our silent connection.

He began with long, slow languid strokes but I needed more. My hunger for him had only grown since he'd entered me. I hooked my ankles around his back and tried to force him deeper, faster. 'Please Edward' I begged.

I felt his teeth at my throat and I sucked in a hissing breath over my teeth as he sunk them in. He clamped his hands either side of my face and held me still as he stroked harder. '_Look at me Bella…tell me…tell me' _his eyes implored me as well as his thoughts.

I opened my eyes and watched his face as he pushed his hips faster, arching his back to go deeper. 'You Edward…only ever you…yes…there…there…I'm going…I'm….' and then I slipped over the edge headlong into a massive orgasm. It started in my toes, moved through my centre and into my brain as the force tore through me completely.

'_Ffff-uuuu-ccccc-kkkk' _he called in his head as he watched and felt me cum. '_So fucking beautiful…all mine…that's it baby, cum for me…yes, yes, yes…'_ he slowed his strokes as I rode out the last of my climax.

When my shaking subsided I opened my eyes and saw him grinning down at me. I smiled, licked my bottom lip and used a hand to pull his mouth to mine. He began to stroke again as we kissed. As the tension rebuilt between us and he picked up his pace once more, so did the intensity of our kiss. He forced his tongue between my teeth and I sucked on it greedily as he pushed into me urgently.

'I love you Edward…only you…you feel so good inside me…take me with you baby' I begged as I felt my release building again. I locked my ankles again and used them to push him harder into me.

I could feel his fingers digging into my scalp as he used me for leverage on his upward stroke. The glorious pressure in my core, up against my clit, bought me right to the brink almost instantly. I let his lips go and buried my lips and teeth into the side of his neck.

'_Jesus Bella…yeah…bite me baby…god, so good…can't last…' _He whimpered into my hair. '_Bella…Bella…Bella…I'm going to…Bella, Bella, my Bella…mine…'_ He groaned and released himself into me with a mighty thrust, pushing me over the edge with him.

He rocked into me as his seed spilled deep inside me. I panted through my orgasm, my teeth still against his neck as I rode each wave. "I love you, I love you, I love you," I chanted as I came down from the pulsing high.

He let his full weight rest on my chest and steadied his breathing until he could speak. "I love too Bella, so, so much baby." He whispered close to my ear.

**EPOV**

The shower in our ensuite bathroom was magnificent, I'd known it was good because I'd used it during my bloody self-imposed separation before the wedding. How good it was I didn't learn until Bella joined me in it soon after I'd made love to her in our bed. Her belly had been too big for the two of us to get into it before, but now the shower had plenty of room and the built in shelf made an innovative, if slightly too thin, gripping point from which I could thrust into Isabella as she stood against the cold glass door.

By the time we were clean and dressed again Nessa was stirring from her dreams. It was 5pm by then and we knew that her grandparents would be waiting for us to arrive.

When she was bundled up into a warm pink blanket and secure in her mothers arms we started the walk to the house. I wanted to use the time to talk to Bella about Renesmee's diet.

"Your mother and Charlie went to the pharmacy this afternoon. They've bought some bottles and infant formula, we thought we might try her on it when we get there. What do you think?" I asked tentatively.

"Do you think she'll take it? Has she said she's thirsty?" She asked.

"I don't know if she'll take it, she's never even smelled it before, but it's worth a try isn't it little one?" I stroked her curls and watched as she showed me her little teeth in a wide smile. "Are you thirsty pretty girl?" I had no idea if she even understood what thirst was and I didn't know how else to describe it to her other than to ask the obvious and hope.

When she didn't answer I let it go. Her thoughts were only for Bella, her smell, her feel, how warm she was in her blanket and the passing forest as we walked. I knew she would either balk or feed once she smelled the formula.

Renee and Esme swooped on the tiny bundle the instant we got through the backdoors so I left the three women to it. I'd have no chance to get anywhere near my daughter while they hovered so I cut my losses and went to find the men. I found Carlisle and Charlie in the living room watching a ball game. I knew Carlisle wasn't at all interested but he was pretending convincingly well. When I asked where my brothers and sisters were I was told they'd decided to go on a road trip and would return by Monday.

"A road trip to where?" I asked skeptically.

"Can't say." Carlisle did his best to block me from his thoughts so I let it go, for now. I fell into a seat in front of the television and feigned interest while keeping my thoughts with my wife and daughter.

Nessa was thinking how horrible the 'formula' smelled even before Renee put the bottles teat near her mouth. _'Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.' _The baby chanted as Renee tried to coax her into opening her lips.

"It's good for you pretty girl." Bella cooed but Nessa was having none of it. To her it smelled like dirt.

I couldn't stifle my laugh for too long and it wasn't too much longer after that that Bella came into the living room looking defeated. She stood in front of me, hands on her hips. "Will you come and talk to her please, maybe you can tell us what she really wants because it's not formula." She pouted.

"Sure, come on." I took her hand, rolling her rings through my fingers and pulled her with me into the kitchen.

Renesmee was in Esme's arms with her lips clamped shut tight. Her eyes were wide open and she was staring up at Esme. Without having to read her mind I could tell she was pleading for the ladies to take the evil smelling liquid away. I laughed again when Nessa begged me to take her, her little fingers clutching nervously for me as I neared. I took her from Esme, who sighed in defeat as Bella had, and pulled my daughter into the crook of my arm.

"Are you sure baby girl? It smells nasty to me too but it might taste good." I reasoned.

'_No daddy, its wrong. Smells wrong. Want momma smell.' _She told me and I looked to Bella. She was watching the scene with concern on her face. I wished, not for the first time today, that she could hear our daughter too. The love, trust and devotion this tiny creature had for her mother already was astounding, even to me.

I put Nessa into Bella's arms, kissed Bella on the forehead and stepped back to stand beside the counter. "She wants blood." I told them all with a shrug. "She says that stuff – and I have to agree – smells wrong to her. She says she wants 'momma smell' which I am assuming is blood seeing as it was her who ruled your thirst these past months Bella." I told her frankly.

"Okay baby girl, blood it is." Bella cooed softly.

I kept my concentration on Renee who I thought might object to this. Instead her thoughts were resigned. I tried to placate her as best I could. "Renee, this doesn't mean she'll never eat human food. Blood is all she knows for now, via Bella, you know? We'll keep trying, I promise." Renee nodded at me half-heartedly but turned her attention back to the baby.

"The big question now is, how do we get blood into her?" Esme asked.

"Ahh, well, that is the million dollar question isn't it?" I teased. "Carlisle will have a supply on hand from Tuesday possibly, until then I'm going to have to take a bottle with me when I hunt." I grimaced.

"Oh that should be fun to watch." Bella giggled and Renee cringed.

I went to where Bella stood rocking Nessa in her arms and put my arm around her shoulders. "Come hunt with me Bella." I whispered, loving the way she shivered as my breath hit her ear.

"Are you sure Edward?" She scrunched her eyes up as if she were in pain. "You go, I'll go when you get back."

"Nope, it's all been arranged. Nessa is staying with her grandparents for a couple of hours and you and I have a date with some bobcats. Come." I held out my hand to her.

She seemed to think on it for a few seconds and when Esme stepped towards her and motioned for Bella to hand Nessa to her she kissed the wriggling bundle and put her into her grandmothers arms. "We won't be hours." She shot me a 'look' and then she took my hand.

"We'll be hours." I called to Esme as I grabbed one of the bottles off the counter on my way out the back door.

**BPOV**

I'd been a vampire for close to four months and if someone had've asked me to name, in order of preference, the funniest things I'd seen since my change Edward trying to siphon blood from a deer would rate in the top spot!

We fed first, my thirst was far too gnawing for me to ignore by the time we got out into our hunting grounds. As we had on our honeymoon I bought down a fat, juicy bobcat and pulled him to me before offering my kill to Edward. He approached with caution but sunk his teeth into the opposite side of its neck with abandon once I began to feed from it.

We took two big male deer before my thirst was sated, though Edward only shared one more with me.

I'd wanted to have Edward after my thirst was under control but he'd begged off, citing his desire to get back to Nessa as soon as possible. The instant he said her name my gut clenched with want. I wanted to hold her, inhale her scent, see her and talk to her. Edward had smiled indulgently as my expression changed from lust to concern for our child.

"Let's find a deer for Nessa." He said as I put my hand into his and followed him off into the woods in the direction that the herd had scattered earlier.

He pointed, marking his target for me to see and I watched in awe as he bought it to the ground, snapping its neck with ease. He'd toyed with the idea of hanging it, as a hunter would before carving up his kill. But that choice was taken from him when the blood began to spurt out at such a rate he'd caught only three drops of it in the bottle before the rest came to adorn his previously pristine white button down.

Attempt number two had consisted of me holding the deer still while Edward punctured its neck and then held the bottle to the wound. That ended in disaster when I growled at him, the blood reaching my nostrils and reigniting my bloodlust. He quickly let both the bottle and the beast go, earning him another healthy spurt of deer blood that trickled down the side of his face in a rivulet of crimson. I offered to lick it off, he was not amused.

Wiping his face with this hands then his hands on the wet grass he went after yet another deer.

Attempt number three failed because he executed the dismount poorly. He pulled the beast into his lap, like I did when hunting, and held it steady in his hands. He asked me to bring the bottle to him and put it between him and the struggling animal. That done I backed away to watch from the safety of the trees.

He punctured the animals neck without incident but from there things went south, rapidly. Blood refused to flow freely from the wound because of Edward's venom. In his frustration he used his teeth to tear a larger hole in its neck but now the four holes, from two bites, were pouring out blood faster than he could suck it or catch it and it poured, instead, into his lap. It filled his lap quite well. So now his jeans were coated in the rich, sticky liquid. I fled to the top branches of my tree so my laughter wouldn't enrage him too much.

What happened next could only be described as worthy of inclusion in any British sitcom.

A hungry bobcat had smelled all the spilled blood and was stalking Edward from the tree line opposite where I was perched. I'd smelled its approach and I assumed Edward had too. I thought he was ignoring it because it wasn't an issue. I was wrong.

It pounced on Edward from behind him. As it launched and collided with his shoulders this forced him up and over the deer in his lap, spilling the collected blood from the bottle and splashing it across his face, hair and chest.

His frustrated roar was enough to let the bobcat know he'd picked the wrong prey and he really wasn't the king of this little piece of jungle. It fled back into the trees, its tail hanging between its legs.

"Fuck me Isabella, is a heads up too much to ask for?" He snarled at me as he wiped at his hair in futility. "Jesus Christ." He huffed as he picked up the once again empty bottle off the ground.

I skipped to where he stood covered in blood and stifled my giggle as best I could. I wanted to kiss him but he was filthy. Hot and probably pretty tasty, but filthy and that included his mood.

"You tried. That's all you can do Edward, you tried." I told him and took the bottle from his hand.

I leant down over the fast dying deer and crouched low over its hind leg. I used a fingernail to make a slit in the major artery that ran from its rump to its ankle joint and waited for the blood to flow. Because I'd not used my teeth there was no venom in this wound to make it congeal when my teeth left it's skin, so it flowed quite freely from the long gash. I pressed the bottle to the wound and put my free arm under the animal, letting gravity do the work for me.

Soon I had half a bottle full and the animal was spent.

I capped the bottle and put it into my jeans pocket as I stood.

I searched the area for Edward and found him at the base of the tree I'd waited for him up. He was leaning against it with his ankles crossed casually but I knew, just knew he was furious. I ran to him, kissed him lightly at the corner of his mouth, patted his luscious ass and grinned. "What can I say Edward, I guess I finally found something you suck at." And then I began to skip back to the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 - The fruits of a Road Trip, Cullen Style

3.

**EPOV**

By the time I got out of the shower in the bathroom upstairs I'd calmed down somewhat. I was still embarrassed to have been shown up by a newborn but I had gotten over the worst of my anger and frustration by the time I came down to meet everyone in the living room once more.

The look of utter panic on Esme's face when I'd come through the backdoor covered in blood was only matched by Renee's. She'd fled to the guest room, not waiting for an explanation.

That was to be my first stop on the way down. I knocked gently and she called me inside.

She was sat on the end of the bed, her face ashen.

"I'm so sorry I frightened you Renee, I wasn't thinking. Please forgive me?" I asked, keeping my distance. Her thoughts were still horrified at the sight of me like that.

"What happened?" She asked, her voice quivering.

"Ah, well, I was trying to collect blood for the baby and it didn't go too well." I admitted.

She rolled her eyes just like Bella did when I was being an ass. Only this time it was being done because I was an idiot. Felt the same though. "Nobody got hurt though right, it was animal blood, wasn't it?"

"Yes, of course. I should've stopped to shower and change at the cottage, I'm sorry I scared you."

"Okay, sorry I overreacted, you scared the shit out of me Edward." She giggled tentatively.

"Yeah well, I was in a bit of a bad mood when I came back otherwise I would've been smarter about my entrance. Your daughter showed me up Renee. Made me look like an idiot out there. She managed to get half a bottle after two minutes, it took me an hour to get nothing and filthy into the bargain!" I joked, sort of joked anyway.

By the time we made our way back into the living room Esme, Carlisle, Charlie and Bella with Nessa in her lap were all perched on the long sofa ready to give the baby her first bottle. Bella looked stunned though and I asked her what was wrong.

"She bit me Edward." She scrunched her face up and showed me where there should have been little teeth marks near her collarbone. Of course there was nothing to see, but I got the point. I leant down and scooped the baby up into my arms and smiled down at her.

"Oh my beauty, did you bite your momma? Oh dear. And after she managed to get you a nice warm drink too. Hmm." I chuckled, watching my daughters thoughts replay my smiles and laughter. I held her tightly and pressed my lips to her forehead. "Is the bite stinging love?" I asked Bella as I settled into the space left between her and Esme.

"No, but she bit me!" Bella was incredulous. "Nathaniel told me that only males are venomous Edward, so that's not an issue, but she bit me."

"She's hungry Bella, she can smell the blood in the bottle." I nodded to it as it sat on the coffee table. She handed it to me and Nessa instantly began to salivate, wriggling in my arms to get at it. "Here you go little love." I told her as I held the teat to her lips. Within seconds she was sucking heartily at it.

"Amazing." Carlisle whispered as he leaned over to watch.

"Gross." Renee and Charlie said in unison.

**BPOV**

That answered that question quite succinctly. Renesmee wanted blood. So be it.

I agreed with Edward though, we'd have to keep trying to give her human food. If she could manage that she'd stand a much better chance of living a relatively normal life amongst other humans.

When Nessa finished the bottle Edward held it out to me and I giggled. The teat was no more. Her little teeth had shredded it and I shivered at the thought of that being my nipple, if I was still human that is.

"I guess we've got the contents of the bottle right but not the method of administration." Carlisle said in his best doctor voice. "Any suggestions Renee?"

My mother almost swooned. I could tell she was totally rapt at having been asked by Carlisle what we should try next. "I'd suggest something other than a clear bottle for a start." She shuddered. "If she grows as fast as Nathaniel says she will then she can go onto a cup very soon, a few weeks maybe."

"So for now we get Alice onto the internet buying up teats!" I giggled. "Hey, where is Alice anyway?" I asked Edward.

"Road trip apparently." He mumbled without any real enthusiasm. I didn't think I really wanted to know what a Cullen sibling road trip was all about so I left it alone.

With Nessa now fed and content she was passed from grandparent to grandparent. Edward and I sat on the living room sofa and watched as each of them had a turn with her.

It was obvious she'd bewitched them all equally but most especially my dad. She gurgled and wriggled for him the most. He talked to her non-stop, the most I'd ever heard him speak at one time, if I thought about it. I looked often to Edward hoping he'd tell me what she was thinking but he told me to just enjoy what I was seeing, that knowing what she was thinking was only half the picture.

I concentrated on the baby's reactions to Charlie and began to notice a pattern. When he was touching her she stilled, when he let her lie in his lap she wriggled until he held her more firmly or put his hands under her shoulders and held her away from him slightly so he could look down at her and speak to her.

Her gurgles and snuffles stopped as he spoke but began again as if she were answering him in her own primitive language. He was utterly smitten with her, and she with him, from what I could tell.

Just before nine o'clock I had Nessa back in my own lap, her little fist I held with my own hand to my cheek watching as she replayed her time with each grandparent for me. Edward said she wanted to show me despite knowing I'd been in the room during the actual time it all took place. Nessa was just showing me her recollections of her time spent with Esme when all of a sudden her thoughts began to slow. I panicked a little and looked to Edward but he was deep in conversation with Renee about the daycare centre. I kept Renesmee's hand to my face and watched as colors began to overtake the faces she'd been showing me. Bright colors swirled about in the little girls memory and as her pale lavender lids fluttered closed and sleep overtook her, her dreams changed again. She wriggled a bit as she settled into sleep in my arms and then her brain ran over all the faces she'd seen today. Edward's was by far and away shown to me most often, closely followed by my own. That gave me a small twinge of pride.

She registered each of the family equally after spending quite a few minutes recalling her 'chat' with Charlie. I was about to call to Edward to come and see for himself when I noticed Nessa had switched from today's memories and was going back through that first time she'd been in this house. The day Edward had rescued her from James.

There, right at the end of the memory was Seth, sitting on the ottoman with his head in his hands. She'd watched him through the whole exchange with Edward and remained watching Seth, only Seth, as Edward led me outside. She barely registered either her father or myself leaving that day. She had kept her attention with Seth.

My daughters thoughts lingered on Seth for a good, long while after that.

I let her hand slip out of mine and come to rest on top of her blanket.

"Bella" Edward whispered, "please can he see her tomorrow?"

I shook my head and wrapped Nessa more tightly in her blanket as I stood. "We'll see you all tomorrow. Goodnight." I told my parents and parents in law and then I began the walk back to the cottage. If Edward followed it was a good fifteen minutes later than I left that night.

**EPOV**

Carlisle had offered his sympathy for the situation but I knew that now wasn't the time to push the issue with Bella.

"I don't want to pretend I know what's going, because I don't understand this imprinting business, but it's obvious that Bella has a problem with it. But one thing I do know is that Bell's isn't vindictive, she doesn't hold a grudge long, son. Give her a few days, she'll come around." Charlie put his hand on my shoulder in encouragement and I thanked him profusely for it.

"Carlisle, call the Rez, tell Seth I'll collect him at midday." I waited for him to nod and then I followed my wife and baby girl home.

By the time I got back to the cottage Nessa was already tucked into her crib and the light was out. I crept in and kissed her curls, telling her I loved her.

Bella was in our bed, the covers pulled right up to her chin. I stepped out of my clothes, letting them fall where I'd stood, and climbed in beside her. She didn't fight me, it wasn't me she was angry at after all. She let me pull her to my chest and as she settled into the crook between my arm and my chest she sighed.

"I can't face him." She mumbled against my throat as she kissed me.

"Of course you can." I kissed her hair as I realized her reluctance to see Seth was as much about her pride at having reacted badly that first day as it was about relinquishing our child before we'd had her for ourselves.

"I behaved so badly Edward. He must be so angry with me. I haven't even called to see how he is. What if he hates me now?" She was getting a little panicked so I did my best to soothe her.

"He's not angry at you Bella. I've talked to Sam. Mostly he's in shock himself. It hit him out of the blue as much as it hit you, love. I can guarantee he doesn't hate you, he loves you, remember?" I chuckled darkly at the memory of their Christmas declarations.

"It was her he loved, not me." It sounded a tiny bit like she was sorry about that.

"Then he's a fool." I kissed her hair as she sighed. "I'm going to collect him tomorrow, I won't bring him here if you don't want that, but he's going to want to see Nessa and I think we should let him." I was treading very carefully, not wanting to back her into a corner.

She was quiet for a long while as she thought about that. "Here, at the cottage, she's ours, only ours. You can take her to the big house tomorrow." It sounded like she was negotiating a Middle Eastern arms deal rather than the needs of someone she loved.

There was nothing I could do though; she'd agreed to let me take Nessa to the house to visit with Seth. For now that would make Seth happy and I suspected, from the dreams Nessa had been having tonight it would make her happy too.

Whether Bella had interpreted Nessa's dreams that way I didn't know, but it was obvious to me, from the baby's thoughts and dreams, that she was as drawn to Seth as he was to her. That could end up being a problem for Bella too, so I said nothing about that. "Okay, thank you. You know where we'll be if you want to come say hi to your friend."

"I'll think about it." She sighed.

"Now Mrs Cullen, this morning, when Nessa was lying on my bare chest, you made mention of knowing how she felt. Care to elaborate on that?" I chuckled.

She swatted at my arm playfully, huffing lightly, "God Edward, do you remember everything I say?"

I pushed her slightly so her shoulders were back on the mattress and just before I took her lips with mine I muttered, "When it comes to you Isabella I have a pornographic memory."

"She's waking up now." I whispered between fevered kisses to Bella's tattoo. "I don't want to let you go." I told her as I nipped at her nipple with my teeth.

Bella pulled my hair, tugging my lips back to hers. "We have to get up now Edward. She's going to need to feed today, so you have a date with a deer." She giggled as she pushed me off her and ran to the bathroom.

I followed, though I didn't chase her. I was already thinking about having to 'milk' a deer for my daughter. If I thought she'd let it go I'd ask Bella to do it but I knew the news was going to get back to Emmett at some point about my disastrous first attempt and I didn't want to give them any more fuel for that particular fire.

Thoughts of my buffoon of a brother made me remember he was missing. "Did Alice say anything to you about where they'd gone for this road trip?" I asked Bella as we got in under the hot water of the shower.

"She didn't say anything to me."

She reached for the shampoo and with a slight raise of her eyebrows I 'assumed the position' as she liked to call it. On my knees, facing her in the shower. I let my head fall against her now flat belly as she massaged my hair into a thick lather. It felt glorious to have her hands in my hair but I wouldn't admit that to anyone other than her. Once she'd washed it twice we switched, though Bella didn't need to get on her knees for me. That's not to say that she hadn't, but that had had nothing to do with her hair needing a wash.

By the time we were both clean Nessa was fussing a little in her crib. I wrapped a towel around my waist and went to her. "Good morning little love" I told her. She held out her tiny fists and clenched them until I leaned over and took her into my arms.

Nuzzling into her neck I kissed her little cheek and held her to me tightly.

'_Daddy…daddy…daddy…' _She thought over and over as I took her into our bedroom and laid her in the middle of the huge bed.

I lay down beside her and stroked her curls while Bella got dressed. The baby's chant changed to 'momma momma momma' until Bella came and lay beside her too. "Good morning sweet girl." Bella crooned as she too nuzzled into the baby's neck. "She smells so good Edward, doesn't she?"

I got up to get myself dressed and agreed. "She's exquisite. Both my girls are exquisite."

"You're so biased." Bella giggled.

**BPOV**

We spent a very nice morning hunting. We took Nessa with us, which was Edward's idea, I wanted to wait at the cottage while he went, then swap, but he'd not hear of it.

So Nessa and I waited by a fallen tree while Edward caught and bled a deer, using my 'cut and cup' method no less. When the bottle was full he took Nessa while I actually hunted for myself.

When we got back to the cottage I fed the bottle of blood to Nessa. Edward came out of our bedroom with his wallet and keys and I knew he was going to the Rez to collect Seth. He sat beside me while Nessa finished her bottle and then he kissed us both goodbye. We said nothing, I had nothing to say and I think Edward didn't want to make an issue of anything right before needing to leave.

I had no intention of going to the big house while Seth was there so when I was sure Edward was gone I got Nessa changed and wrapped into a thick blanket and then I made my way up there myself.

Only Esme was there when I got to the big house. It was so still, so quiet, it was eerie to just walk into the backdoor and not be greeted by Emmett's booming voice or bowled over by Alice.

"Where is everyone?" I asked Esme, looking around as if I'd see them rather than hear them.

"Road trip." She replied as she took Nessa from me. "Good morning little one. How did Edward go this morning dear, better than last night I hope?" Esme teased.

"Much better, thanks. Um, what does a road trip consist of around here?" I asked.

"Can't say." She mumbled, just as Edward had said Carlisle had replied the day before. Something was up, there was a fox in the hen house so to speak.

"Can't say or won't say?" I prodded.

Esme looked slightly guilty, "Can't."

"Listen mom, Edward is bringing Seth here in a minute to visit with Nessa, so I'm going to run on home. Will you be okay with her until they get here?"

"Are you sure you won't stay dear? I know Seth would love to see you, they are all going to Anchorage tomorrow and you won't have a chance to see him for a whole week." Her eyes never left mine and I could see she was concerned for me, but I was adamant.

"Sorry Esme, I just can't." I tried to hide my eyes from her but she wasn't about to let me off the hook so easily as Edward.

She kissed Nessa on the top of her head and then looked at me over the baby's head. "You're a smart girl Bella, I know you'll do what's right. Please, think about this, what it means for you and for Seth. If you think about what it would've done to Edward, had you denied him, I'm sure you'll see this differently than you do right now."

Wow, way to guilt trip there Esme I thought. I threw her a smile and hoped that would be the end of it for that day.

**EPOV**

The drive from the Rez to the big house was agonizing. Seth spent the whole time worrying over Bella's anger and his own guilt for hurting his friend. He was excited to be able to see Renesmee; he'd told me that when I'd arrived at the gates to the Reservation, but his worry was overshadowing that.

"I don't think Bella will be there when we arrive Seth." I wanted him to know that, be prepared for that, just in case Esme wasn't able to convince her to stay.

"She hates me, doesn't she?" He asked sadly.

"No, of course she doesn't. She's ashamed for her outburst on Thursday night and she's never been a good sharer." I chuckled, even though what I'd said wasn't true.

"She's ashamed? Wow." His thoughts were filled with how incredible that seemed. That Bella even thought about how she'd reacted. He assumed she'd be fine with that and had moved on to just being angry with him.

"She's not angry at you, I promise. She's just not ready to face you yet. She's worried that you're going to have Nessa before we even have a chance to know her for ourselves."

"I don't want to take her from you!" He yelped. "I don't. I just want to be near her. I just want to make her happy, protect her."

"I know that and Bella will too, just give her a few days, I promise she'll come around."

I pulled into the driveway of the house, waited for Seth to get out of the car and then ushered him into the living room. His sigh of relief that Nessa was there, lying on the sofa with her doting grandmother leaning over her cooing softly, was palpable.

"Hello there Seth, it's lovely to see you again." Esme spoke softly as he moved towards where she sat. "Come on, come and meet Nessa."

"Nessa." He copied the name, rolling it around in his head, he liked it. "Nessa." He whispered as he bent over the sofa and looked down at her. "Hello Nessa." He looked to where I stood and I nodded. He got to his knees and bent his head towards her, inhaling her scent, his eyes closed. Relief. It radiated from him every pore. Sheer relief that she was okay, that she was here, that he was near her once again. '_Thank you, Edward.'_ He told me silently.

"You're welcome son." I told him. Esme got up from her seat and moved to stand with me, letting her hand find mine between us. I grasped her hand firmly, a little bit shaken myself as I watched Seth take my daughter into his huge hands for the first time.

He sat back down on the sofa with her, holding her as Charlie had the night before. He was gazing down at her as she wriggled against his thighs.

'_Mine…mine…mine…mine…'_ Nessa was chanting. She'd registered him instantly, marking him as hers just they way he'd marked her as his through her scent alone. I couldn't help the sad sigh I let out. It was a lot to take in, the complicated mess I was looking at. And the noticeable absence of my wife didn't help.

Esme began rhythmically squeezing my hand, silently telling me it was okay, that everything will be all right.

"Nessa." Seth whispered again and my little girl smiled widely, showing him her little teeth. He whipped his head to where I stood and I saw and heard the shock that came over him.

"Yeah, um…there are a few things you should know Seth." I chuckled.

"I'll leave you two boys to it." Esme told me as she went up the stairs to her studio.

I sat beside Seth, patting Renesmee's curls on my way past. "Hello little love." I told her. "She's going to grow real fast. Three times faster than normal actually. The teeth are just the start I'm afraid. I can read her, so I know what's going on for her, that will help, but she's already a quick study." I told him proudly.

"Three times faster? So, like, in a weeks time she'll be like a month old?" he asked.

"Close enough, yes. It will only take four months for her to behave and look like a one year old Seth. We'll only get seven years of her being young, then she'll be fully grown. Matured." I told him carefully, still not happy about what that meant for Bella and I. "But there's more. She's gifted."

"Yeah, I always knew she would be." He laughed, earning a little mewl from a wriggling Nessa. "I always knew you were special, little one. Nessa." He said reverently. "So, what is it you can do little lady? Read my mind? See the future? Predict the weather? God, I hope you can do something cool like fly!" He laughed.

**BPOV**

"Alice where are you?" I asked into the cell phone.

"We're just coming into Forks Bella, stop worrying." She chirped.

"Okay, so you're back in Forks, where have you been?"

"Road trip. Look, we'll come to the cottage first seeing as you're alone, you are alone right?" She asked.

"Yeah, you've seen that I take it." I rolled my eyes even though she couldn't see me do it.

"Stay put, we'll be twenty minutes, tops. See you soon." And then she broke the connection.

I put the phone down and stared at it. They were up to something and a little part of my brain told me I wasn't going to like it.

I used my twenty minutes wisely.

I put on a load of laundry, cleaned the bathrooms and got online to check out some alternatives to baby bottles for Nessa. By the time my four brothers and sisters were knocking on my front door I'd ordered two dozen stainless steel drink bottles and two hundred silicone teats. Should get us through until Nessa could drink from a cup I figured.

"Hey, nice to have you guys back." I told them as they hugged and kissed me in turn as they came through the door. "Now, where you been?"

"Edward and Nessa are at the house right?" Jasper asked.

"Yep. Seth's up there visiting." Emmett shot me a strange look, as though he wasn't very happy with me and I promised myself I'd talk to him about that later.

"Good. Now, we've been on a bit of a hunting expedition." Alice announced as though that would make any sense to me. "Okay, I can see I'm going to have to spell this out, I really did think Edward would work out at least some of this and Carlisle the rest. They really don't know?"

"Spit it out Alice, I've got no idea where you lot went."

"Okay, okay. Well, the boys went to Phoenix, but I'll let them tell you all about that. Rose and I went to Chicago. We've bought something home with us, but we want to keep it a surprise from Edward. Are you in?" She asked and I nodded violently. "Good. So, when you asked Rose if she'd be godmother we got to thinking. Edward was christened, we know that, so that meant there had to be a christening gown somewhere. So Rosie and I made a little trip to the Masen house." She raised her eyebrows tellingly.

"Oh my god. You found it didn't you?" I squealed.

Alice began bouncing up and down on her toes and I knew that they had. You could just see it on her face. "Yep, we did. The house is filthy, of course, but it's all still there. In boxes mostly, it's been packed up, but it's all there. He really should go back there and sort some of it out one day or it's all going to turn to dust. But anyway, we have the gown and I'm going to have it repaired and cleaned. And, well, what do you think Bella? Do you think he'd like that?"

She hadn't stopped for breath through the whole speech and I'd sort of missed my cue to speak so she had to nudge me once or twice before I answered. "He'll go crazy Alice, it's brilliant. I can't wait to see it. Thank you so much, it's a wonderful idea." I hugged her to me tightly, and then pulled Rosie into a tight hug, thanking her too.

"You're welcome. Well, we know you said you wanted Nessa christened as fast as possible so we've got it all sorted. Two weeks from today, that's a Sunday of course, the sixth of February. Is that okay?" Rosie asked.

"Perfect. Thank you so much. Just tell me what you need me to do and I'll do it." I promised.

"Excellent. Well, we're going to leave you now, but the boys want a word. Jaz and I have to go to school tomorrow but we'll come down and see you before we leave, okay?" Alice asked hopefully.

"Of course Alice. See you then. Bye Rosie, have a good day at work tomorrow." I told her, knowing it was going to be her first day on her own at the garage. Sam and the pack were going on their holiday tomorrow, taking Seth far, far away from my daughter. Thank god.

**EPOV**

"She knows me?" Seth asked, mouth agape.

He'd done well with all the information I had given him. He asked intelligent questions and listened when I explained the answers. So now he knew all about Nessa. He knew she preferred blood, that she's likely to bite him – which she'd already tried twice while we'd been talking – but that she wasn't venomous. He'd already discovered for himself that she ran hotter than a human and that her heartbeat was a little faster too. He knew she slept and that she had an exceptional sense of smell, even for a vampire her scent marking abilities were incredibly refined.

"Yes, she does. Your scent of course, that's already in her brain, but she knows you Seth. She knows who you are, she's catalogued you as you. I can't explain that any other way yet." I chuckled.

He nodded but his thoughts were only for Renesmee. I left them alone for a bit, letting them get to know each other a little better, and went to the kitchen to find Esme. She wanted to 'talk' to me about her time with Bella this morning.

"He's very sweet with her." She nodded towards the living room.

"He is. It's a lot more difficult to watch than I'd first thought." I ran a hand through my hair and tried to calm down a little. "Bella?" I asked tentatively, wanting to know what sort of shit storm I'd be walking in to when I took Nessa home later.

Esme smiled wanly, "She's not ready. I did what Renee suggested and tried to guilt her into it but she just digs in her heels, doesn't she?" Esme giggled half-heartedly.

"Yeah, she does. Thanks anyway." I turned so that I could see where Seth was sitting, Nessa in his lap still. They were just gazing at each other. His thoughts filled with her, hers with him. It made my gut clench. I couldn't tear my eyes away from them. I didn't know what I expected to see, and what I did see was perfectly innocent of course, but it still hurt to watch.

I was about to go and rejoin them on the sofa when I started hearing Alice and Rosie coming through the forest. I pointed out the kitchen window, towards the river, "Alice and Rosie coming in fast. Two minutes." I told Esme.

"Oh good." She said noncommittally.

"Where were they Esme, I know you're all hiding something from me, you may as well tell me." I prodded. "Oh good Christ, why must you pick _that_ to think about to block me woman? You're evil!" I rubbed my temples trying to rid myself of the mental image. Carlisle in his flight suit, Esme in her nurses uniform…shudder.

She was still giggling when Alice and Rose came barreling in through the backdoors. "Hey big brother!" Alice trilled as she threw herself into my arms. "Let me go now Edward, where is she?" Apparently she was done with me.

"In the living room, with Seth." I told her and she was gone before I finished the sentence.

"Hey Ed." Rose hugged me too, though less forcefully. "You okay?" She jerked her head towards where Seth now sat with Nessa asleep in his arms.

"Yeah." I mumbled.

"Hang in there, she'll come around. I'll talk to her." She told me and then went in to see the baby.

"Go in and enjoy her Edward. You need to talk to him about Anchorage, you can't put it off." Esme prompted.

The minute she said it Seth let out a strangled yelp, "I'm not going, you can't make me."

Shit.

**BPOV**

"Come and sit down sissy." Emmett tugging on my sleeve, his dimples showing as he smiled at me.

This wasn't good. No good ever came from Emmett's dimples being on show this long. I sat on the sofa and he and Jasper sat on the coffee table in front of me. They exchanged a 'look', Jasper nodded, Emmett nodded and then they both unleashed their brilliant smiles on me.

"We went to Phoenix. We visited Phil." Emmett confessed.

"Oh shit." It burst out of my mouth before I could rein it in. "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing, jeez, give us some credit, we aren't without some self control you know." Jasper looked offended. Not really, but he was trying hard to look offended.

"Okay, so if he's fine, what did you do or say to him?" I asked tentatively. If this was a secret that needed keeping from Edward there was more to this than a friendly visit.

"Ed called him before the wedding to ask if he'd rethink his inability to attend. He didn't come so you know that was a flop. With the christening coming up we thought we'd try again." Emmett shrugged.

"Right. You just decided, on a whim, to go visit my step dad and invite him to the christening?" I asked knowing they were full of shit.

"Yep. That's exactly how it went down. The girls were going to Chicago so we went to Phoenix. No big deal. Although, I gotta say, Arizona sucks. How the hell did you manage in all that sunshine?" Emmett scrunched up his nose and eyes.

"Umm…dipshit…she was human." Jasper offered most helpfully and I giggled.

"Oh, right." Emmett guffawed, "I forgot."

"Anyway little lady. We went to see your kin. He wasn't too pleased to see us mind, but after a little while and a bit of explaining from us he agreed to come for the christening." Jasper told me proudly.

I leapt off the sofa and barreled them both off the coffee table into a group hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." I squealed in delight.

Both boys were laughing their heads off, just lying there letting me squish them. I let them both up and they were both smiling widely.

"I guess that means you're happy, right?" Jasper joked.

"Yeah, I'm happy. Thanks you guys, that means so much to me. I'm so glad he's decided to come after all. He's going to adore Nessa. Oh, wait, he won't want to stay here, or at the big house, oh shit, or with mom and dad. I'll give you my credit card, can you book him into a motel in town?" I was about to shoot off down the little hallway to the study and get my wallet when Emmett's giant hand streaked out and grabbed my wrist.

"It's all sorted sissy. Alice, remember?" He chuckled.

"Oh, right. Of course. She's seen it all already. Good. Well then. Thanks you guys. You're the best brothers ever." I told them both then kissed each one on the cheek.

They looked like little boys who'd been praised for washing their hands before a meal. They were so adorable. They shared another quick look between the two of them and then they were at the front door. "You're the best sister ever, too, but we really want to see the munchkin, so, I guess we'll see ya, gotta go bye…" Emmett bellowed as he took off through the door.

**EPOV**

When Seth began to tremble and shake Alice extracted the baby from his hands and took her upstairs to her suite with Rose and Esme in tow.

I led him out the backdoor and encouraged him to phase, which he did. He shook from head to toe with anger and frustration, pain and fear. I wanted him to run with me, to work some of it out of his system but he stubbornly refused to leave the immediate area while Nessa was in the house.

So I stood in the middle of the yard and let him calm himself down.

I tried to give him some mental privacy but it was tough. He was running through scenario after scenario, hoping to find a loophole in the plans that the pack had made to travel to Alaska tomorrow for their holiday.

"Seth, son, come on. That's not going to help anyone, least of all you." I told him sadly as he began to form the idea that would see him and Sam fighting in the forest. "I know it seems horrible now but it's only for six days, son. Go to Alaska, make Sam happy. Try and have a nice time with your pack. Then come back and Bella may have softened in her stance, slightly." I tried to placate him but could see he just didn't give a shit what I thought was a good idea or not.

'_I won't leave her. Nobody can force me onto that plane.' _He told me silently as he began to pace in a small, tight circle.

"Okay, I concede that. Nobody can force you to go. I do know how you're feeling Seth. I've been there. And I know it hurts like hell, the thought of having to leave her. But I can't see any alternative. Even if you stayed here in Forks while your pack was gone you'd still have to go to school and then there's Bella…" I trailed off.

'_I know that, I'm not dumb. If I stayed here at least I'd be within a few miles of her if she needed me. In Alaska I'm fucked.' _He punctuated his frustration with a loud howl.

I was about to chuckle at his choice of language when I heard another mental voice enter the vicinity.

'_Dude, what gives?'_ Emmett and Jasper were close by.

"We're in the yard." I called to my brothers and soon they appeared through the trees by the river. "Emmett and Jasper are coming from the river Seth."

We watched them come towards us and then Seth ran to the tree line, emerging a few seconds later as a human again. His trembling had abated but he still looked a curious mix between frustration and pain, his face drawn and tired. Emmett and Jasper both offered him a fist, which he bumped without his usual enthusiasm.

"What gives bro?" Emmett asked of him.

Seth looked at me and I nodded, it was his story to tell, not mine.

"The pack are going to Alaska tomorrow for their holidays, I'm not going. Edward is trying to convince me to go. He can't make me and neither can you guys, so don't bother." He said belligerently.

Jasper laughed, "I agree, we can't make the big bad wolf go." The four of us, Seth included, laughed a bit at that, but Jaz wasn't done, "But I'll tell you something that will not only make you laugh, but also prove that we can make humans do what we want."

I watched with interest as he looked to Emmett then to me then back to Emmett. When Em nodded and Jasper began to speak I saw in his head what he was about to divulge and groaned.

Oh for fucks sake!

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you've found something of interest in my story please review and let me know. Equally, if you think I've botched it and made a terrible hash of your fave character review and let me know that too! Thanks, either way.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 – Build a Baby and They will come.

4.

**EPOV**

"You just turned up there, no warning?" I asked.

"Yep. Alice could see that if we phoned first he'd just fuck off, so we just turned up. He sure shit himself hey Jaz?" Emmett crowed.

Jasper was barely containing his laughter as he answered, "Oh yeah, he was terrified. Thought we were there to kill him. I almost threw up when his fear hit me full on."

"So, like I was sayin', we get to the house and he's home. We asked him to invite us in for a chat but he was just standing there gaping, so I picked him up by his shoulders and walked through the house with him like that. He didn't like that much eh Jaz?" Emmett asked and Jasper snorted and shook his head. "So I put him down in the kitchen and told him to sit. He did. Didn't have much choice by then." Emmett scoffed.

Jasper picked up the story from there, taking a turn. "So we told him that Nessa had been born safely and that he was a step-granddaddy or whatever but he didn't seem to care too much. Said he was done with all that, that he was divorcing Renee so he wasn't a step anything. Which I thought was rude." Jasper ran over the conversation and I was inclined to agree, the sneer on Phil's face as he said it was just plain rude. "So we tell him that we don't really give a shit whether he thinks he's anyone's step anything anymore and then we told him that Bella wants him here for the christening and since Bella is our sister what Bella wants Bella gets." Jasper began snorting again so Emmett took back the reins.

"He said he wasn't going anywhere, especially anywhere with us. He was real brave for about thirty seconds there, have to give him that. For a second he really did believe he wasn't coming. Jaz fixed it though." Emmett cuffed Jasper on the shoulder.

"Hey, you said it was my turn to scare him, so I did." Jasper had the good grace to look ashamed, for three point six seconds anyway. "I told him it could go one of two ways, but that the choice was his, we'd respect his choice. When he relaxed a little I just explained what the two choices were and left the decision up to him." Jasper shrugged as though it was any ordinary business negotiation.

"You did well bro, very calm, very together." Jasper bumped Emmett's fist but I knew there was more, Seth did too.

"What choices did you give him?" Seth asked as I thought it.

"Oh, we thought we gave him two options that were pretty reasonable, all he had to do was pick the one he could live with best." Emmett shrugged. "I told him he could take the ticket we had for him and agree to come off the plane, where we'd be waiting to collect him of course, the day before the christening. Or, and we did give him an alternative so he could've declined at any time, we told him we could come back in two weeks time and take him to Forks in a bag."

I was about to protest about them using threats to get what they wanted when Jasper interjected. "Now Ed, we knew you'd be unhappy if we threatened him with death, so we toned it down. You'd have been proud. So we told him we weren't into unnecessary violence, that nobody had to get hurt, so out of the goodness of our hearts – and in deference to our brother here - we did tell him that if he chose option two we were willing to concede a little ground and that in a show of good faith we'd poke some holes in his back so he'd be able to breath on the trip."

Seth began howling with laughter, literally howling in between his burst of uncontrolled laughing. The two idiots I called my brothers were doubled over joining in and I just couldn't hold it in any longer and I began to chortle myself.

We all fell about laughing and I had to crouch down on my haunches to contain it. I didn't want to startle Nessa but the barks of helpless laughter that came out of my chest refused to be tamped down.

My brothers were falling on the ground, clutching their sides as they crowed.

Seth had given up trying to keep it in and he sat beside me thumping the ground with his hand as his laughter echoed off the trees.

"I'm not happy with you two boys you know." Esme said from somewhere inside, which only made us all laugh harder.

**BPOV**

I was getting antsy. Edward had been gone for hours and Emmett and Jasper – the latest of my visitors – had run off an hour ago too. I wanted Nessa back now. I just didn't want to go to the big house, with Seth there, to get her.

I was just judging the pros and cons of phoning the big house when my cell phone rang. Alice.

"She's fine. Stop pacing and stop worrying. Edward is just taking Seth home now, give it ten minutes then come up. Edward says she's asking for you anyway." Alice had already broken the connection before I had a chance to say thank you.

Another half a second and I was running towards the big house. If I had to wait in the shadows until the car was out of the driveway I would. I hadn't really acknowledged my need for Renesmee until the instant I'd heard Alice say she was asking for me. Then it swamped me, filled my chest with an ache that only her smell and the feel of her skin would sate.

I could hear the crunch of gravel and knew that Edward was away with Seth. I sprinted to the backdoor and flung it open. Esme was in the kitchen, as always, and she giggled heartily as I flew up the stairs, following Nessa's scent into Alice' room.

"Here she is sweet pea." Jasper crooned to the tiny girl in his hands.

Nessa let out a mighty wail that shocked them all and began clenching and unclenching her fists towards me. I pulled her to me and swung her around in a wide arc, thankful to have her so close once more. I inhaled her perfect scent and kissed her rosy cheek. "Hello pretty girl." I told her, bringing her to my lap as I took a seat beside Jasper. The others were all staring at us. "What?" I asked.

"Nothing. She was just desperate to see you, that's all." Alice told me. The others just shrugged or nodded in agreement with Alice.

"Well I was just as desperate to see her. Hello my angel. Did you have a nice day up here at the big house with daddy?" I asked softly, feeling her snuggle down further into her blanket. She was tired.

It looked like a great effort as she lifted her fist to my chin. I got flashes of her time with Esme then a long, long time of memories with Edward and Seth. I gasped when she recalled being kissed and nuzzled by the wolf and gasped a second time when she showed me Seth's reaction to being reminded of the Alaska trip. I looked up with wide eyes, hoping to see support but instead I was met with four looks of worry.

"Oh come on guys, don't tell me…never mind…it doesn't matter." I grumbled and stood with the baby in my arms. I didn't want to argue with them, I didn't want to hear their reasoning and I definitely didn't want to know which side they'd come down on. "I'm taking her home for a bath and bed now. Tell Edward I'll be waiting for him." I didn't give them a chance to argue or moan about it, I just left, throwing a thank you and a goodbye to Esme on my way out the backdoor.

I bathed her quickly as she was about ready to fall asleep before I even got her into the bath. So it was a very floppy, very sleepy baby I wrestled into a sleep suit. I kissed her goodnight and pulled the covers up over her, patting her little rounded bottom until I heard the first of her snuffles.

I turned the light off behind me and went into the study. I slid into the chair and pulled the textbooks back to the centre of the desktop. I had yet to take my finals and had decided to make it a priority, so I used my time wisely while I waited for Edward to come back from the Rez.

**EPOV**

It felt so wrong to be sat around the dining room table strategizing without Bella, but there we all were.

"He says he won't go and nobody can force him, so that's an end to it I'm afraid." I informed them when Carlisle asked after Seth. "He faced the tribunal on Friday night and they've recorded his intention to court Renesmee when she's reached maturity. Sam tells me they were none too happy, but the pack had to quickly concede that any imprint of the pack was immediately afforded fealty. It's done." I ran an anxious hand through my hair and let them digest the information I'd given.

"And you Edward, how are you with that?" Esme asked me quietly. It was a question I'd pondered all the way back from the Rez.

I sighed, "I'll admit it would've made it easier for me, with Bella, had the tribunal denied her protection from the pack, but I can't say I'd be happy about it either. Rock and a hard place for me I'm afraid." I told them truthfully.

"What will Seth do now then? If he's not going to Alaska with the others?" Rose asked.

"He'll go to school as normal. Sam's not happy and I did remind him he was able to order Seth to attend the trip, as alpha Seth would be unable to deny him, but Sam was reluctant."

"We'll keep an eye on him Edward." Alice told me, "I think he's going to have a chat with Chloe tomorrow, it's not going to be nice. I can't see him, of course, but I've seen Chloe crying in the ladies toilets between the gym and the science rooms. So I'll look out for her too."

"Jesus, I'd not even thought about that. Poor kid. She doesn't deserve this." I mumbled, thinking about the Sam, Emily Leah situation. "Okay, what are everyone else's plans for this week then?" I asked trying to steer the conversation away from such sad topics.

"I'm going to bust that wall down between your suite and the attic space." Emmett announced excitedly.

"Awesome." Jasper agreed. "I'm going to school, can't wait." He added grumpily at the end. I could sympathize.

"I'm going to work. I'm boss lady while the wolves are away." Rose cackled. God help the customers!

"I'm meeting with Tony Roberts at nine, I should have a supplier for the blood by midday Edward." Carlisle told me, much to my relief.

"Oh good, although I did enjoy the visual of you lying under that…" Alice began sweetly but I had her out of her chair and pinned to the floor, tickling her mercilessly in half a second. "Ow, get off me you big brute." She squeaked as I ruffled her hair.

"Big brute? Oh really?" I taunted her. "Surely those two are the brutes? It wasn't me who threatened the human to come visit." I cackled, knowing any mention of Emmett and Jasper's road trip would stir up Esme. I let Alice up as Esme began her tirade at the two boys. "See ya." I called, flipping them the bird when Esme wasn't looking. As their mirrored calls of 'not fair' and 'thanks Eddie' boomed out of the house I was already running towards the cottage.

I stuck my head into Nessa's nursery before stepping into the study to find Bella. She had a huge pile of papers at her elbow and was pouring over her Trig textbook when I came in. Without looking up from it she mumbled her hello.

I too said a quiet hello. She didn't look up and I didn't feel like being on my own so I went to the bookshelves to choose something to amuse myself with in the short term.

I pulled her well-thumbed copy of Pride and Prejudice from the shelf and settled myself into the window seat. Her marker was left precisely at the part where Miss Lizzy seeks to confirm for her father her changed regard for Mr Darcy.

"Lizzy," said her father, "I have given him my consent. He is the kind of man, indeed, to whom I should never dare refuse any thing, which he condescended to ask. I now give it to you, if you are resolved on having him. But let me advise you to think better of it. I know your disposition, Lizzy. I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable, unless you truly esteemed your husband, unless you looked up to him as a superior. Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an unequal marriage. You could scarcely escape discredit and misery. My child, let me not have the grief of seeing you unable to respect your partner in life. You know not what you are about."

Not for the first time I thought about Bella's request for an equal partnership. Was I once again denying her that by making decisions on her behalf?

I closed the book with a thud, making Bella jump slightly. "What are you reading Edward?" She whispered to me.

"Your Pride my love." I answered.

"From my marker, yes?" She asked, I could hear the interest in her voice.

"Indeed. 'Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an…'" I left off there, hoping she'd finish the line.

"An unequal marriage, Edward." She huffed.

"Will you escape your discredit and misery Bella?" I wondered aloud. "I am not your superior, we're partners. I promise."

"I know." She whispered, closing her textbook but remaining facing the door, away from me. "I don't like ultimatums Edward but it's me who's given you one, haven't I?"

"Of a sort, yes." I answered truthfully. It was true that she was forcing me to choose between what she wanted from me and what I wanted for Seth. I'd never go against her if I truly thought I'd lose her over it, but for now I was confident enough that time would withdraw the need for me to ever choose.

"I am sorry for that you know. I don't want you to have to choose." She told me, her head hanging lowly over the desktop.

"I'm trying to be all things to all men, but I'm not choosing, yet. The reality of any choice is that someone will lose. The only thing I truly know, for certain, right now, is that any choice that takes you away from me is not acceptable." I let the book fall to the window seat and steadied myself to admit to myself and then to Bella what I had to admit. "If this is something you cannot, and will not accept Bella, then I'll make plans to take us away from here, away from the problem. I can't have you unhappy."

She sucked in a breath, a harsh heavily burdened breath and turned to face me. A look of utter desolation on her beautiful face. "I don't want to leave here Edward, but I don't want him here either." She told me as she put her head back into her hands. It was obvious that these choices were hurting her too. I knew that and yet I could do nothing to ease it for her. I didn't want to push lest she push back and we were forced apart.

"Come here my beauty." I held my arms open and she came and settled herself into my chest, sitting in my lap on the little window seat. I kissed the top of her head and held her tightly. "I don't want to leave, but we have to do what's best for us as a family, love. I survived being apart from you for short bursts and Seth will too." I told her, feeling her tense at the mention of Seth's pain. I knew she cared about him, despite her trying to hide it from the both of us. "I also know that even if we leave now he'd find her when she was of age and there'd be nothing we could do about that. Wouldn't you much rather be a part of it from the beginning?" I was hoping she'd grant me at least that.

In a whispered voice she said, "She was born four days ago Edward, four lousy days. She behaves as though she's weeks old already. She's grown, did you notice how her body is longer already, her curls looser? Four days Edward. She's been mine for four days and you're asking me to share her, to give her over to a wolf." Her voice was so filled with pain I ached to soothe her.

While she was at least willing to hear me I decided to push her just a tiny bit, try to get her to see reason. "You already share her with the others, would it be so bad to share her with one more? He's not asking you to let him take her away, to live with him at the Rez, he just wants a chance to get to know her. He wants to spend time with her, just like the others do, that's all. He's no different than my siblings or our parents in that Bella." I was trying very hard not to guilt her, not to manipulate her feelings for the family and use them against her.

"But with Seth there's an ulterior motive. She showed me Edward, she showed me him kissing her cheek. She wants him too Edward. She clutches at me and she holds her arms out for you, but she wants Seth too." She sobbed.

"His only motive is to give her what she wants. Right now she wants him near her, neither of them fully understand why. That's all it is. This strange feeling of happiness, comfort, of belonging when they're near each other. It's how I've felt about you nearly your whole life Bella. The only time I'm whole is when I'm near you. It will never leave me, never. I know it won't leave Seth and I have my suspicions that it's going to be the same for Renesmee. He smells right to her, much the same way we do. She knows she's a part of us but she's also acknowledged that he's going to be a part of her too. I'm so sorry Bella, but it's done. And if we force them apart now she'll only run to him as soon as she's able and we'll be left out of their lives, I can't let that happen."

It was only when I heard Nessa mewl that I realized I'd raised my voice. We sat silently waiting to see if she'd settle and when she did we both let out a deep sigh. I stroked Bella's hair and just held her while she thought about what I'd said.

**BPOV**

It was true that, like Edward, I didn't want to be left out of my own daughters life once she was grown and able to live it her way, but at the same time I wasn't ready to give her up to him.

All that Edward said made sense, good sense, but I wasn't ready to have him near her. I wasn't ready to watch it and I wasn't ready to condone it. I felt bad that Seth would be in pain because of me, but on the other hand I'd be the one in pain if I were to allow it. Perhaps one day, when I'd had her in my life a little longer and had spent some time with her, getting to know her, I might allow their relationship. But today wasn't that day. "He can see her at the big house, not here." Was all I said by way of a reply to his speech.

"Deal." He kissed my hair again and stroked my wedding rings. I was so relieved when he changed the subject. "A christening in two weeks huh?"

"Yeah, Alice does love a party." I giggled. "Is that okay with you?"

"Of course. Would you like to pick her godfather?" He asked even though I'd already asked Rose to be her godmother.

"Nope, that's for you to sort out with your brothers."

"Hmm, it is tough, but I think I am going to go with Emmett. Jasper will understand, I hope." He mused.

"Edward, I don't really want to leave any of them out. Why don't we ask all four?" I really did want them all to be a big part of her life and knew that one or all of them would be offended if someone were left out. While both girls had been a part of our wedding party neither of the boys had.

"Is that ok with you?" He asked excitedly. "I mean, it is normal for a child to have two pairs of godparents, but I don't think it's usual for them to be all from the one family."

"I don't have any siblings, only yours, so yours it is." I chuckled.

"They'll love that." He said, lost in thought. "Want to count down with me? Oops, too late." His cell was already ringing in his pocket. "Gee, surprise surprise, it's Alice. Hello Alice," he said as he opened it, "You're welcome. Yes I'll tell her too. Please let me ask the boys personally…thanks Alice. Good night." His smile was radiant as he closed the phone. I leant back off him so he could swing his legs off the edge of the seat. He pulled me to him so I was against his shoulder. "As you could hear she's happy about our decision. She won't be able to keep it a secret for long, I'll have to go up there pretty early to ask the boys."

"They're all coming here before work and school." I giggled. "They all want to see Nessa before they leave for the day, so hang around here. Build a baby and they will come." I laughed.

**EPOV**

I used all the charm I could muster to drag her away from her studies that night. I found it difficult and unsettling to get my point across – the point being that I wanted to spend the evening ravishing my gorgeous and sexy wife – without her being able to read me. I found myself missing it. I never thought I would, but I did. Instead I had to use my considerable skills at persuasion. She protested, though not loudly. I finally got my prize by promising that Mr Darcy was worthy of Elizabeth Bennett. I may have lied. But I did get what I wanted and my lie wasn't so terrible a sin.

We made love for hours and as the night gave way to a very murky morning we bathed each other under a stream of boiling hot water in our shower.

Thunder and lightening wakened our little angel a little earlier than she'd woken the days prior. So she was bathed, dressed and fed by the time my siblings arrived to see her, before they set off to work and school.

I had a nice moment with my brothers when I asked them to be my daughters godfather and Jasper basked in the reflected happiness of how we were all feeling.

Rose and Em were the first to leave, Rose had to be at the garage early enough to open up and Emmett was keen to start knocking down the wall at the big house.

Jasper grouched good naturedly about having to go to school but he and Alice set off in good spirits after we'd promised to bring the baby to the house once they got back.

We had to go up there at some point anyway, Carlisle wanted to begin a growth chart for Nessa and today was to be his first exam with her. It was very reminiscent of the check ups Bella had had with him when she was pregnant.

I had the delightful pleasure of a whole day with my family. Bella ran off to hunt while I stayed indoors with Nessa, the rain pelting down on the slate roof of the cottage. A very bedraggled but utterly gorgeous Bella returned and while Renesmee had her afternoon sleep, and Bella recommenced her studies, I took great pride in phoning our lawyer and making an appointment to see him early the following week.

I had a long list of people who wanted contacting once our baby was born so I set about marking them off while Bella fussed over her Biology text.

My very first call was to Nathaniel. With the time difference it was always going to be tricky to catch him, what with his classes, so I was a little disappointed to only reach his voice mail. But I left a message informing him of Nessa's birth and inviting him to the christening. Then I called Aro who was very happy for us. He wished us well and I was so pleased to tell Bella that the entire Italian contingent was planning to come for the christening.

Esme had already contacted the Denali cousins, of course, but I phoned them anyway, happy to personally share our news and receive their congratulations. Rose had already invited them for the christening and I was able to mark them as attending on my little list.

It was amusing when I phoned the Irish and it was Garrett who answered my call. We spoke for a while about how he was coping being part of a more permanent coven – he assured me he was adapting quite well – and I teased him a little about his having grown up and settled down. He was older than me by a good hundred years, so it was an interesting conversation. I accepted his congratulations and his assurance that the Irish would be in attendance, in full numbers no less, for the upcoming christening.

I did my best to locate either Peter or Charlotte but once again I only managed to leave a message. It had always been difficult contacting the nomads, both here and abroad. But with the advent of mobile telephones and email we did much better at it now than ever before. I was confident that they would receive my message or contact us when word got out about Nessa's birth. These things didn't stay secret for long within our world.

Carlisle was wanting to contact a few more acquaintances and I had them on my list, but wasn't too comfortable asking them to come personally. I'd leave them to Carlisle, they would be his guests, not ours.

Renesmee woke hungry so I did my duty and wrestled with yet another small deer in the quest for blood for her. Hopefully Carlisle would have blood on hand the following day and that foray into the forest would be the last I'd need to make on Nessa's behalf.

During the wedding – when the other 'vegetarian' cousins had inundated us - Carlisle had had to purchase a new stock for our close-quarters forest. With Bella needing to feed so often, and a likely influx of vampires for the christening, he thought it prudent we buy in some stock, all of which had arrived while Bella and I had been on our honeymoon.

By the time Renesmee had been born the newly arrived herd of white tailed deer had entrenched itself firmly in our surrounds, giving us greater variety in our diet. I knew that Emmett appreciated the influx of black bear and I was enjoying the variation in the taste of the newly acquired Lynx as opposed to my normal bobcat. It was highly illegal to trade in these animals, of course, but when money is no problem, anything could be bought and sold.

As I ran back towards the cottage with my collection my cell phone announced a call. I knew it was a problem the instant I saw that Sam was the caller.

After a brief greeting he outlined his problem, "He's had a rough day Edward. I phoned Sue to check that he'd gone to school and she told me he came home early and refuses to speak to anyone. I told her you'd speak to him. I'm sorry about that, that I didn't check with you first, but I can't do anything else from here."

The pack had left for Anchorage earlier this morning, Seth, as predicted, had refused to go and had at least made an attempt to go to school.

"I'll talk to him Sam. Thanks for letting me know. I'll call you if I need to, but I'll keep an eye on him until you return."

"Thank you Edward." And with that he broke the connection.

I dialed Alice and she told me that she'd spotted Seth and Chloe speaking first thing, that Chloe had indeed been crying in the ladies toilets by the first break and that she hadn't seen Seth again during the day. Of course she was blind to everything else but suggested I call the Clearwater house and see if he'd speak with me. If that didn't work she'd send Em and Jaz. I thanked her, hung up and dialed the Rez.

"I'm sorry Edward, he says he doesn't feel like speaking to anyone. I don't know what to do with him. He says he won't go back to school and Sam's not here to order him to go." Sue sounded frustrated and worried.

I wanted to go there myself but knew that Bella would…well, I didn't know what Bella would do, but I knew that she would think she was being cornered into letting him see Nessa.

"Okay. Can you send someone to the entrance, I'll have Emmett and Jasper meet them there, see if they can't talk some sense into him. I'm sorry about this Sue, we just need to be a bit patient I'm afraid." I told her.

"I'll have Harry meet them, thank you."

I phoned the house and told Alice, she promised the boys would leave then and there and that they'd be discreet about the outcome when they came back. She said she'd explained Bella's feelings on it all to them, they were all aware how delicate the situation was and that no matter who was on whose side they'd all put Nessa and Bella first. I thanked her and asked her to pass my thanks to the boys and then made my way home to feed the baby.

We'd taken to sharing the task of feeding her. Bella had found some stainless steel bottles online but they'd take a few days to arrive, so until then I would feed the baby her bottle. Bella found it awkward and uncomfortable to use the transparent bottles while her thirst was still quite strong.

She was better when she'd just fed herself, but for the times in between, when she'd not hunted for a few hours, I fed our baby. I was more than happy to do it. We had little conversations while Nessa fed, her plump little fingers wrapped around mine as I held the bottle.

She would replay for me her whole day, regardless that I'd been there to share it with her. I asked her questions and she showed me her answers.

After she'd been fed, bathed and changed into clean clothes we made our way up to the big house.

**BPOV**

"I miss not reading you Edward, I don't like not knowing what you're thinking when you're this quiet." I told him, giving his hand a squeeze in mine.

He chuckled a little but didn't go on to tell me what he was thinking. I figured if he wanted me to know what was on his mind he'd share it with me. I'd try once more then I'd let it go.

"Please Edward." I wanted him to share his burden before we got to the house and we were swamped with questions and pulled in a hundred different directions.

Without breaking stride he squeezed my hand back, "I have a hundred different thoughts in my brain right now Isabella, some of which you don't want to hear or discuss." He seemed to think on something, as though he was picking a topic that wouldn't upset me or cause an argument. "Carlisle wants to begin Nessa's charts tonight, lets get that out the way first and then once she's tucked up in her little bed we'll talk, alright love?" He spoke quietly and carefully, as though changing his tone of voice would alert me to something I shouldn't know.

"What are you hiding Edward?" I asked.

"I'm not hiding anything Isabella. I told you, I promised you, we'd be equals, I haven't reneged on that." He said very abruptly, as though that's what I was accusing him of.

We walked the rest of the way in silence.

Esme met us at the backdoor, eager to get her hands on Nessa. "Hello little lady, come see what grandma Esme got today." She scooped the baby out of my arms and bore her off to the dining room. I listened for a few minutes, to learn what Esme had to show the baby and smiled when I heard Esme begin to give Nessa a lesson about flowers and their meanings.

"Bella, come up here." Alice called from the second floor.

"I guess I'll be up there." I told Edward.

"I'm going up to see what Emmett's done to our room." He announced with a grimace.

We parted on the second floor landing, without another word. My fear and worry that something was terribly wrong just wouldn't leave me. Edward's emotional distance all but confirmed it for me, despite my knowing anything about what Edward was thinking anymore.

Alice' room was filled with boxes!

"What's all this?" I asked, flopping down on her bed. Rose was sifting through a box by the window. "Hey Rosie."

"This is for our little miss." Alice announced, earning an eye roll from both Rose and myself. "And you can keep your eye rolling to yourselves. She's going to grow so fast, I need to be on my toes. Grab a box." She pointed to a row of boxes that were stacked four high. "Sort them into what you want to keep here and what you need at the cottage."

I plucked a box from the top and took it back to the bed. Inside it were hundreds of pink outfits in all sorts of styles and sizes. "What's in your box Rose?" I asked.

"Same as yours." She cringed. "Only this one has ribbons and hair clips too, look." She held up a smaller box she'd taken from within a bigger box and tipped it to show me. Inside was reel after reel of ribbons in every shade of red and pink I'd ever seen.

"O-k-a-y." I mumbled but Alice just giggled.

"Tomorrow, when you bring her up, bring your camera Bell's. We need to start working on her album. She'll outgrow most of this stuff in a few weeks, so we need to take photos of her in it now." She told me.

I could see the logic in that, the need to take pictures of her as she was now, seeing as she was going to change so fast. We'd need proof of her aging to show humans, if the need ever arose, so I had no problem with it really. I just wasn't keen on spending so much money on clothes that were only going to fit her for a few weeks, at best.

Alice screwed up her nose and shot me a 'look'. "Don't make me tell Edward you're being miserly with his daughter."

"God, you're such a bitch." I giggled.

**EPOV**

I didn't know what I was expecting but it wasn't this!

The third floor landing, from where the landing began right up to the recently replaced door to our bedroom, was littered with our belongings and Emmett's tools and equipment.

Inside the room was worse.

All the furniture was pushed back, up against the windows. It was all covered in dustsheets, thank god, but it was such a shock to see it like that. We'd not spent long in it after Bella had redecorated it, it was true, but it still felt like home to me.

I'd told Bella what I was in this room, we'd pledged ourselves here, lost our virginity here. I doubted anywhere, even the cottage, would feel as this room did. I always felt calmer, as though I belonged, in this room. I stood staring at the gaping hole in the wall beside the closet, the dark cavern beyond it hidden in shadows, the daylight had long since faded.

I went in through the hole in the wall and looked at the destruction. Huge braces were clamped to the supporting beams, shoring the structure up while Emmett knocked the joining wall down.

I could see what he was trying to achieve, and I was sure it would be fantastic when it was complete, but it was a little shocking to see it as it was now.

I heard the car on the gravel and knew that it was Emmett and Jasper, arriving back from seeing Seth at the Rez.

Jasper went right to Alice but Emmett ran up the steps, coming to find me with his news.

"Hey." He said quietly. "What do you think bro?"

"You'll reinforce this beam here?" I asked.

"Yeah, and that one too because its carrying the load from Esme's studio. I'll knock in a bit here, there's no heating duct up here, so I'll encase it there." He was pointing and I nodded in agreement.

"What did you have in mind for the windows?" I pointed to the outer sidewall.

"Triple glazed I think. I'm not worried about the weather but the noise. She sleeps so it'll need to be quiet up here." He'd really thought about this, this wasn't just some little renovation job.

"It's brilliant Em." I told him, making him smile widely. "Thanks so much for doing this." I held out my hand and he shook it, smiling proudly.

"You're welcome dude. We want you guys here as often as possible, right." He told me.

I was desperate to know what had happened with Seth but knew the walls had ears. I hoped Alice was right and that Emmett knew to be discreet. "How was your drive?" I asked.

He didn't fail me. He turned to face me, closed his eyes, concentrating hard and began to tell me, silently, how his and Jasper's talk with Seth had gone.

'_He's in a bad way Ed. He told us it was awful at school, having to tell Chloe he couldn't see her anymore. She didn't understand why and he couldn't bring himself to lie, so he had to tell her that he'd met someone else over the break. She was really upset.' _He told me.

"Shit." I muttered. I had known, from what Alice had already seen, that it wasn't going to be pretty, but I was astute enough to know that the more upset Chloe was the worse Seth would feel about breaking things off with her.

_'Yeah, couldn't have said it better myself. So he told her and then he just couldn't handle being there any more, so he went home. He said he wants to see Nessa real bad. That he feels sick when he's not near her. Sam's been great, talking to him, explaining things to him, but he says that it just hurts to be near couples that are happy right now.'_ He shifted his weight to his other foot and rested back against the outer wall. _'I didn't know what to tell him, whether there was a solution. I think I did something dumb bro.'_ He admitted with a grimace.

I nodded to let him know I'd heard and that he should continue.

_'I told him to phase and get himself into the forest, told him that if he stayed downwind he could sleep near the cottage without Bella knowing.'_ He was already apologizing before I began to curse.

"Oh fuck Em, why did you do that?" I yelled far louder than I should have. I could hear everyone already asking what the problem was. "Shit." I mumbled, running a hand through my hair. "Okay, keep it to yourself." I whispered knowing it wouldn't matter; I'd tipped my own hand already.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you've found something of interest in my story please review. If, on the other hand, you'd like to tell me where I've gone wrong, please review. ;)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Imprinting Sympathizers

5.

**BPOV**

I'd been eavesdropping on his conversation with Emmett. My mother always told me that eavesdroppers rarely hear anything good and I knew she was right the instant I heard Edward curse.

When he told Em to keep something to himself I dropped the pink dress I was holding and flew up the stairs and into the war zone that used to be our bedroom.

I side stepped all the tools and the mess and found Edward and Emmett inside the attic space.

"Tell me." I growled at them. "And don't bullshit me or brush me off by telling me its for my own good or I might not like what I hear. Tell me Edward. Right now." I demanded.

He ran a frustrated hand through his hair, rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Can you give us a minute Em?" He waited until Emmett had left even though we all knew that it wouldn't matter. Everyone in the house was about to hear Edward's and my dirty laundry; there was no avoiding it. "I'll tell you and I won't spare you the details, but I'm going to ask you to be careful when you speak. Our daughter can hear us and she will remember every word of this conversation. Okay?" He asked.

"Fine." I spat.

He moved back through the hole in the wall and into our bedroom, waving for me to follow. He put his hand on my elbow as I went through and then he pulled the dust cover off the sofa, holding his hand out for me to sit first. After I did he sat himself facing me on the coffee table. "Seth has refused to go to Anchorage with his pack. Sam had no choice but to leave him behind. Seth promised he'd attend school today and he did, although he didn't last long. He told Chloe they couldn't see each other anymore and she was very upset. He left soon after that and went home. His mother called Sam to ask what to do when Seth wouldn't speak to anyone or come out of his bedroom. Sam called me, and I called Alice because I knew you'd be angry with me if I took off to see Seth at the Rez. So I called Alice and she asked Emmett and Jaz to go and speak with him. They did. He told them he just couldn't handle being away from Renesmee and that being near happy couples hurt." I could tell he was telling me the truth because his eyes never left mine and the pain in his voice told me he'd not left anything out. He wanted me to know that Seth was in pain. "All he wants is to be near her." He was begging on Seth's behalf and it was pitiful.

I didn't even hesitate. I stood facing him and put my hand out. "I'll need the keys Edward. Bring her home when you're done. I'll see you there, later."

He sighed and fished the keys out of his jeans pocket and tipped them into my hand. He held his palm over mine, folding my fingers inside his hand. "Please Bella. Please won't you stay, talk to him? If you could just see him you'd know how much this hurts him. Please love, stay?"

For a few seconds I ran that statement around in my head. Edward was prepared to beg me to allow this, for me to let Seth see my daughter, and he felt justified in asking because of how much it was hurting Seth to be denied. He didn't hesitate to ask me to allow it, despite his already knowing how much it was hurting me. It felt like Seth's pain was much, much higher on Edward's list of priorities than mine was. The extent to which that hurt me was unfathomable. A deep, crushing ache settled in my gut when I realised how invested Edward was in Seth's happiness. That he could overlook mine shook me to the depths of my very being.

I gave him as much as I was capable of right then. "I love you Edward and I admire you for wanting to help him. I'll see you at home later." I got myself up onto my tiptoes and I kissed him softly at the corner of his mouth and then I went out the double glass doors into the tree. I jumped down onto the damp grass and ran back to the cottage.

**EPOV**

When I reached the living room they were all there, Carlisle included. He'd arrived home while I'd been talking with Bella and he was now on the living room sofa with Nessa in his lap.

Their thoughts were once again filled with sympathy for me and also for Seth.

I'd come full circle.

I'd spent a decade being felt sorry for, because I couldn't be with Bella all the time, and now I was right back there again. They all felt sorry for me because Seth couldn't be with Nessa and I was paying the price for Bella's anger and resentment. Fucking fantastic.

"We'll take care of her while you go Edward." Esme assured me as she folded me into her arms. "Go and get him. It's the right thing to do. Just be patient with her a little longer, I'm sure she'll come around."

"I hope so." I told her sadly. "Would you do your measurements while I'm gone Carlisle?"

He said he would.

When I got to the Rez it was Harry who met me at the gates. I left the Guardian in the little parking bay and went on foot, following the older man back to his home. I said a quick hello to Sue as I was shown inside and then Harry ushered me into the hallway.

"He's through here." He told me, using his hand to show me the way. "Maybe he'll listen to you."

Seth was sitting at a desk staring out the window into the black night. _'Unless you've come to collect me you may as well turn around and go back the way you came.' _He thought as I came into the room.

"Well then, best you get off your ass and get in the car." I told him sternly.

He spun around at a rate of knots, leapt out of the chair and faced me. "Can I see her?" he bellowed.

"Come on then, we haven't got long." I told him but he was already going through the door and out into the yard to where I'd parked the Z4.

I watched them for a little while as Seth held Nessa in his lap on the sofa, talking to her softly about his day. She was almost spent, her little eyes were flickering shut every few minutes but she was trying so hard to stay awake, as though she knew their time was limited.

He kissed her cheek and held her hand to his as the first seconds of her dreams flooded her mind. When she was asleep properly he laid her down on the sofa and tucked her under his arm and closed his eyes too.

Once I was sure he too was asleep I went to find Carlisle. He was in his study, pouring over Nessa's chart.

"How is she doing?" I asked as I took my seat opposite him.

"Fantastically well by all accounts. She's putting on weight she seems content and she's sleeping well. There isn't much more I can check." He chuckled.

"I guess not. What news from Dr Roberts?"

"From what I've been able to find out from the information pack the blood will keep for upwards of 35 days if we keep it refrigerated, which shouldn't be a problem. He's put me in contact with a supplier in Port Angeles and I'll have the first batch tomorrow morning. I've ordered collection packs, needles and adaptors just in case she doesn't take to it and you need to bleed something for her long term. But I am hopeful she'll take this. Keep track of what she consumes and once we have a trackable pattern I'll keep that amount on hand until she can hunt with you."

It was good news though slightly disconcerting, the thought that she would hunt with me very soon. A few months at best. "That's good news. Thank you."

"You're most welcome. What news of Bella?" He asked rather tactfully.

I shook my head, "She sees my point, and understands what he's going through but it's very cut and dried for her at the moment. Renesmee is ours and that's how she wants it. She's unwilling to share her."

"I see. And your stance is what?" He asked carefully.

"I'm doing my best to keep them both happy." I said truthfully, though I wasn't sure I was achieving even that.

"And yet he is here."

"He is." I conceded, "Bella insists he not come to the cottage and she won't stay here while he visits. For now we are at an impasse. She's unwilling to let him into our home and I'm unwilling to let her keep him away. I know for certain she needs him in her life, she's just frustrated and her pride is stopping her from seeing him. I know from his thoughts that he misses her. I only hope she'll give in before the friendship they have is lost permanently."

"What will you do if she insists they stay apart?" He asked sadly, knowing it was a scenario that could quite easily come about.

I chose my words carefully, knowing how painful this was going to be for my family to hear. "Then I'll take my family away Carlisle." I admitted, knowing the misery it was likely to cause. "I'd have no option. I can't have Bella hurt or in pain and I won't risk losing her. If she refuses him outright we'll have to leave."

The two boys yelled their displeasure with me but the three girls sobbed quietly. Thankfully both Seth and Renesmee were oblivious and slept on.

**BPOV**

I met Edward at the front door and took Nessa from him. She smelled like Seth. I knew it was wrong but I desperately wanted to bathe her. Instead I kissed her softly and took her into her room and put her into her crib. She never stirred once. I held her hand to my lips and watched as she dreamt of Seth.

When I shut off her light I turned right, thinking Edward had gone to bed. But when I got to our room he wasn't there, he'd gone to the study. He was sat in the high backed chair and was leaning over a notepad, pen in hand.

"What's on your list?" I asked softly. He'd not spoken since coming home and I was worried, scared that I'd damaged our relationship by not allowing Seth into my family.

He didn't look up. "Things I need the lawyer to do. Change of assets, register her at the bank, passports, birth certificates, guardians, things like that." He said glumly.

I went behind him and sat on the window seat, where he'd sat earlier this morning. "Have you heard from any of the others, from the messages you left this morning?" I asked, unwilling to visit anything else.

He pulled his little silver cell phone from his pocket, stared at the screen and put it on the desk. "No, no replies yet."

I nodded to myself. Okay, he doesn't want to talk, I thought. Fair enough. I guessed I deserved it anyway. I dropped a kiss on his head, grabbed my Biology textbook and went to bed.

He never came to bed.

I heard him leave the cottage at 2am and come back at an hour or so later but he never came into the bedroom. He showered in the smaller bathroom and put the same clothes on he'd worn all day and then he went back to the study.

I could hear the scratching of his pen as he wrote, probably in his journal and probably less than flattering things about me.

By the time the sun began to peek over the mountains I'd finished my Biology study and had finished the accompanying assessment piece. I needed the envelope on the desk so I could mail it to the school but didn't want to go in there while Edward was still writing. The silence was deafening in our little part of the world that Tuesday morning.

Nessa woke at seven and I took her into the big tub with me. I so wanted Edward to join us but was too proud to ask. When she was clean I dressed her in a pretty little pink suit and dried her curls on a pink fluffy towel. Edward normally brushed them out until they shone and they were dry, but he didn't come in and again I didn't ask him to.

I took her out into the living room and sat with her by the windows. She put her little hand to my cheek to show me what I'd missed of her evening. It took everything I had to share it with her. I kept my gasp and my anguish to myself as she showed me herself and Seth on the sofa in the living room at the big house and then how she'd fallen asleep in his arms. Edward had been nowhere to be seen.

Jasper looked pained when he and Alice came to see Nessa before they went off to school for the day. Whatever had gone on at the house last night was either not for me to know about or our situation was now hurting everyone, not just us.

Rose and Emmett arrived soon after and the four of them fussed over the little girl for a little while. Nobody asked after Edward and he didn't come out of the study while they were there.

Their conversation would have sounded normal to a casual observer but I could tell that nobody was particularly happy, they were all rather subdued, thoughtful even. Nessa didn't seem to notice and she gooed and gahhed at her aunts and uncles as they played and talked with her.

By the time they left I was ready to scream. The tension in the tiny house was like a mist that shrouded every surface and filled every room. I put Nessa into her crib, made sure she was settled and happily babbling at her mobile, then I went to the study.

He was still poised over his list, his journal lay open at his side and he had a stack of loose papers crumpled at his feet. As I moved into the room more fully he pulled his journal closer to himself as if to protect it, I stiffened. I had no desire to read what he'd written, but the simple act of him pulling it nearer so I couldn't hurt me, badly.

I sighed heavily, hoping he'd say something. Instead he lifted his eyes to me and stared at me over the desk. His silence only made me angrier. "Okay Edward, I give up. I can't handle the silence any more. You're willing to see everyone's point of view on this but mine. You don't want to talk to me, fine. Hide in here all you want. Renesmee's in her crib, please listen for her. I'm going to hunt." I didn't bother waiting for the reply that would never come, I simply ran back down the hallway and out through the glass doors at the back of our bedroom.

**EPOV**

I put my head into my hands and sighed. I knew exactly how she felt, the silence was killing me too, but I was unable to resolve this problem.

I wanted to share my burden, to talk to her about what was on my mind but there simply wasn't any point.

She couldn't see my point of view and didn't want to try, it seemed. She'd made her decision and I had to either live with it or leave. Since I refused to leave and I didn't agree with her decision I was at a loss as to what to do.

I was completely loyal to my mate, I'd never go against her and have Seth at the cottage without her permission, but at the same time it wasn't practical, or helpful to the situation, to have Seth visit with Nessa at the big house while Bella hid at the cottage.

At either end of the stick someone was going to get hurt. Poised in the centre was Nessa. Bella had a right and a say in who our daughter associated with. I had a right to that too, but not at Bella's expense.

I'd heard Seth's thoughts in the forest last night and had gone out there to warn him that if Bella caught him I'd be forced to see him off. He'd told me he appreciated that and that if it came to it he'd leave, but he also told me that he'd not slept properly since Nessa had been born, he felt the only way he could truly relax enough to find sleep would be to be near her. He'd sat himself, in wolf form as protection against the weather, at the base of a tree, down wind of the cottage, and was settling in for the night when I'd found him.

I'd tried to reason with him for a good long while but had eventually left him there. If he was willing to take the risk of being caught so be it. I'd done my best. His snoring was loud, very loud, and I thought that would alert Bella more certainly than a change in the wind and his scent coming into the cottage but come first light she'd not left our bedroom or said a word about it. In fact, she'd not said a word since last night, period.

He'd called for me just before the sun rose, telling me through his thoughts that he was heading home and then to school. Nessa stirred soon after and I heard Bella go to her as if nothing was amiss.

When I heard the tub taps being turned on I began to hope that Bella would invite me in with her and Nessa, but she never did. I listened to her talking to our daughter all through her bath and smiled as she splashed and laughed with her. Nessa's thoughts were filled with love, warmth and contentment and I missed her touch acutely, but felt I couldn't go to them while Bella was so angry with me.

Now that Bella had gone off hunting on her own I was left with very few options.

The family and the pack may have been able to move forward but my new wife and family were having to tread water. Bella was unable to move past this and I was unwilling to let us stagnate.

Rose had begun her new job; Emmett had the nursery build to look forward to. Alice and Jasper had gone back to school with the plan that they'd graduate with their class and move on to college. Carlisle had this new information to drive him on and Esme was looking forward to spending time with my child. The whole family was happily planning the christening while Bella and I stood poised over what felt like a precipice. Would we fall or would we be pushed?

Sam and Emily were busy planning their wedding and pack life moved on around them. Charlie had his new boat to amuse him and Renee was already well underway with the renovations at the daycare centre.

Seth, Bella and myself stood still.

If Bella refused to negotiate we'd be stuck right here, unmoving and unable to put this to rest.

So while Nessa was content to lie in her crib and watch the zoo animal mobile twist and turn in the breeze I made the call I'd been dreading.

"Carlisle, it's me. We have to leave." I sighed into the phone.

**BPOV**

"I'm sorry Alice but this really isn't any of your business." I all but yelled into the little silver cell phone before slamming it shut and hurling it against the nearest boulder. Of course it smashed into a thousand pieces and I was left sitting there as frustrated as ever with no recourse. "FUCK!" I yelled into the soggy meadow.

I got to my feet once again and went back to pacing up and down in front of the trees. Edward hadn't called and I'd not let him know where I was. I didn't really care if he was worried. I didn't want to go back to the cottage to suffer through another afternoon, then another night, of that silence. I didn't want to go to the big house because it was obvious they all thought I was being a bitch. I'd fallen short of calling them imprint sympathizers last night and it had only been my reluctance to argue with them while Nessa was in the house that kept me from screaming just that at them all as I fled home.

Carlisle had imprinted on Esme. Rose had imprinted on Emmett. Sam on Emily, Peter on Charlotte, Liam on Siobhan, Edward on me. I had no doubt that Alice and Jaspers story was wrapped up in some way with the whole fucking process of imprinting too. Call it fate if you want but what was imprinting if not fate anyway?

So sympathizers surrounded me, not one of them wanted to know my side of it, my thoughts on it. Not one of them had asked and not a single one of them had offered anything sound in the way of advice. They just stood beside Edward and watched. United in their frustration with me it seemed.

I'm not sure I expected anything else. I was, after all, the newcomer.

What I hadn't expected was Alice to be so angry.

Edward had warned me that if we couldn't resolve this problem with Seth that I was having that we'd have to move on. I didn't want that to happen, of course I didn't. But, like Edward, I'd do what was best for my family. Right now the idea of moving away from my new siblings and my parents was the lesser of two evils. It would hurt, to be isolated from them, but it also hurt to be near Seth, to have Seth near Renesmee.

So it came as no surprise when I answered my phone to a screaming Alice, raging at me because she'd just seen Edward on the phone with Carlisle discussing us leaving.

She told me that Edward wanted us to go away, be together separate from Seth and the rest of the family, that Carlisle was upset and was trying to talk Edward out of it. She told me – she didn't ask me to, she told me to – get my ass home to the cottage and make it right with Edward. That she'd never forgive me if I took her brother and niece away. She shouted at me to stop being so fucking selfish and to 'get over' whatever issue I was having and to fix this, now.

She was bound to be doubly pissed now I'd told her to butt out. I had always, and would always, value Alice' opinion, but things had changed dramatically in the past few days for me. Before I only had myself to worry about, I knew Edward could look after himself and that he'd be okay if I perished while giving birth to Renesmee. Then I'd had to come to terms with actually surviving the birth and then the knowledge that I had no idea how to care for a baby. I'd gotten, at most, two hours with Nessa before Seth claimed her. That was it. The sum total of my time to bask in the reflected glory of being that little girls mother had lasted two hours. Tops.

I was someone's mother and for me that trumped a sister in law. I loved Alice, I loved them all, but Nessa was my priority now. Nessa and Edward. For the first time in a long time I wished I could talk to my mother.

The shards of broken plastic from my cell phone glittered up at me from where they lay in the long grass. What I really wanted was to turn the clock back a few days. I wanted to wake up from the nightmare that had been Nessa's birth to find that Nessa was whole, well and beautiful and that she would be ours, mine and Edward's, forever. I wished I'd never met a wolf, ever. I wished I'd been kept in the dark about their existence.

The longer I sat there the more I thought about just holding Nessa, just being with her as her mother should be, without interruption. My need for Nessa was only growing stronger as the day shortened. With each passing hour that I was away from her my desperation grew. I'd run my hand over my face two hundred times since I'd come out here, her scent still lingering on it from when I'd held her in my arms. If I closed my eyes I could see her, feel her.

I might not have been ready to go home but I could go close.

I ran back towards the cottage but stayed well clear of it. I ran a loop around the area in a ring about a half a mile out from the house. I'd not even completed the first loop when I smelled Seth's scent at the base of a tree. It was fresh too, hours old, not days or weeks. He'd been here today, last night maybe at the earliest.

The scent didn't go any closer to the cottage; rather it was strongest right at the base of the tree. I traced it away from that point and it led to the west, in the direction of the Rez.

Suddenly Edward's trip away from us last night made sense.

Seth had been out here during the night, he'd either sat or slept here, under this tree.

Son of a bitch!

**EPOV**

"Please, son, give it a few more days. I'm begging you. Let her calm down, just a few more days." I could imagine the pain on his face as I reduced him to begging.

"I can't. I'm going to lose her if I push any harder. I only just got her, both of them, I won't lose them Carlisle, not even for Seth." I told him firmly.

"Then give me a chance to speak with her. Maybe I can explain it all a little differently than you can, maybe I can make her see reason. It's worth a try, isn't it?" He choked out the reply and it only hurt me more.

"I'm sorry Carlisle, I really am. I have to go, Nessa is crying for me." I hung up before he could plead any further. I couldn't handle it, couldn't take the pain I'd inflicted on him.

I pulled Renesmee from her crib and held her tightly. I told her over and over how much I loved her, how sorry I was for what I was about to do. Then I took her with me into the study and began to map out our exit from Forks.

With my daughter in my lap I made arrangements for my house in Oregon to be reopened and cleaned, for it to be ready to receive us in four days time.

I booked us on a flight out of Seattle for Saturday afternoon and then I contacted my lawyer and had him put me into contact with a colleague of his in Portland.

I called a car carrier and organized for our motley crew of vehicles to find their way to the new house. I registered Bella with an online high school program so she could graduate no matter where we were and then I called Renee and made a date to go and see her tomorrow morning.

It was getting late and still Bella hadn't returned. The sun would be setting soon and there was no sign of her or any of the others. I'd called her cell phone an hour prior but had only gotten her voicemail. I asked her to come home but hadn't heard a word since.

It was my own fault, I'd kept silent when she'd wanted to talk this morning, now I wanted to talk to her and she was being silent. I didn't blame her, I'd pushed her to this.

I decided to go to the main house as planned. It wasn't the family's fault that Bella wasn't speaking to me, they deserved their time with Nessa regardless.

I knew Carlisle would have told Esme about my decision to move my family so I was prepared for her sadness when I got there.

"Oh Edward, please say you'll keep trying." She begged me as she fell on Renesmee the instant we came into the kitchen. Nessa reached for her grandmother, as she reached for me each time I was near her, and my heart broke for the pain I was about to inflict on both her and Esme.

"Of course I'll keep trying, but I won't lose Bella." I told her firmly. "Do the others know?" I ranged my hearing out and listened for the mental voices of my siblings but heard nothing other than turning pages from Carlisle's study. "Where are they all?"

"Out." She said without any real conviction. "Come and have a look in grandma Esme's studio little one." She crooned to the baby, taking her up the stairs with her and leaving me alone in the kitchen.

The only option left to me was to go to Carlisle.

**BPOV**

I stalked my way back to the cottage and when I got there I ranted and raved some more. I cursed him for all I was worth, I called him every name I could think of and drew short of looking up to find a few I didn't know yet.

I did, however, get online and order myself a new cell phone.

I wanted to know if Edward had left Nessa with Esme while he went to collect Seth. Or had Edward taken Nessa to the Rez to visit Seth there? Were they all, the whole family, secreting Nessa out of the big house to meet with Seth somewhere? I wanted to know where my child was. I wanted to know where my husband was and I wanted to know what the fuck was going on behind my back.

I'd been very clear, as clear as glass, I didn't want Seth near the cottage. At the cottage Nessa was ours, only ours.

I needed her so badly that I ended up sitting in her room, clutching the blanket from her crib to me while I rocked slowly back and forth in her rocking chair.

Emmett found me there an hour or so later. He hadn't knocked and I just couldn't be bothered to fight with him over it. He came right to me, as though he'd known where he'd find me. He stood right in front of me, his giant hands on his hips.

"So you're just sitting here alone in the dark then?" He asked, stating the obvious.

"Looks that way." I mumbled. I didn't want to do this, I didn't care what he had to say, and this was none of his business either.

"That the remains of your cell phone in the meadow?" He asked, dropping to his knees and putting his hands on mine so he could see my face.

I nodded, "Yep. I guess Alice told you I yelled at her?"

"Yep. She did. But she also said she yelled at you first. So you're even." He chuckled. "She only wants to help, you know. We all do."

"Don't Em. I don't want to talk about this with you. Its obvious you've all chosen your side, just leave me alone." I told him belligerently.

"I see. So you've assumed we are all on Seth and Edward's side and that's that is it? You don't want to see us or talk to us now? Am I right? Is that what you want me to go home and tell the others Bella? You want us to just let you leave?" his voice was steadily rising and I knew in a few short minutes I'd be seeing an Emmett that rarely saw the light of day.

"No Em, I don't want you to go home and tell the others anything. I want you all to stay out of it; I want you all to go to work and to school and to stop pressuring me. I want you all to forget that this is an issue because it has nothing to do with any of you." I choked it out of my throat as best I could.

He stood and ran his hands down his thighs as though he was trying to contain them. "I see. You marry my brother and have his baby and suddenly it's nothing to do with me that he's made plans to take you away? I see." His tone was so ice cold, so calculating, so eerily intense that I shivered.

He intimidated me, it was true, but I wasn't afraid of him. He'd come here for a reason, I just wanted to know what that was and then get him to leave. "What is it you came here for Em?"

"I came to tell you that I love you Bella. They all wanted to come but I told them not to, I didn't want to overwhelm you, make it look like we were ganging up on you. So I begged them to stay at the house, to let me come and talk to you. But it's none of my business, apparently."

He made no move to leave so I said my peace. "I love you too Em, you know that, I love them all. But you're the product of imprinting!" I screeched. "Of course you're going to side with them. I get that. I just don't want to have to watch or listen to it." And with that I pushed past him and went out into the hall. "Please close the door behind you when you leave." I told him matter of factly as I went into my bedroom and shut the door.

**EPOV**

"She threw you out?" I asked Emmett when he came to find me in Carlisle's study. "She actually told you to get out of our house?" I was stunned. Emmett was nodding and I was stunned.

"She's upset Edward. She doesn't mean any of this." Carlisle tried to placate me. "Let me talk to her in the morning. Give her tonight to cool down and I'll come down there and talk to her in the morning."

I thought on it for a moment before I answered. "Can Nessa stay here tonight?" I asked him and he said of course she could. "Thank you. I'll be back at first light, but I'd rather have this out with Bella without Renesmee in earshot." I told them both. "I guess I have nothing to lose now. If she won't speak to her siblings and she won't discuss it with you or Esme it's up to me. At best she gives in, at worst we leave for Oregon on Saturday as planned. Either way I'll come up and let you know." I said sadly.

"Tread carefully Edward, I'm begging you, please go easy. She's so convinced we've chosen your side that she's just shut down bro. She wouldn't even let me explain how we all felt, she was just so sure she was alone in this." Emmett told me in a rare show of emotion. "Look, I like Seth, don't get me wrong, but there is no choice to make here Ed, she's your wife and my sister and that's my niece up there. You've gotta get her to stay, I'll knock Seth off myself if I have to." He boomed. He immediately regretted saying it, but the damage was already done.

"EMMETT!" Carlisle roared across the room at him.

I put my head in my hands and scuffed at my neck, "Okay, this has gone far enough already. Emmett, calm down, it doesn't ever need to come to that. I don't want that and I know you don't want that either. I'll go and talk to her." And with that I left them to sort out the mess Emmett had just made.

I wanted to go up to Esme's studio and hold Nessa for a moment to steady myself but I knew if I stayed in that house a moment longer it would all erupt into a frenzy of sympathy and sadness and I just didn't have it in me to partake.

Because I couldn't hear her thoughts I entered the cottage not knowing what I was going to face. I found her in our bed, tucked into the blankets with Nessa's pink blanket clutched in her hands. She was smelling it and looked utterly defeated.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. These chapters have been tough, so let me know what you think! **


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6 – A Long Night

6.

**EPOV**

"Where is she?" Bella snarled from where she lay in our bed.

"I left her at the house." I told her, coming slowly around to her side of the bed. I moved her clothes from the wing chair that sat beside the glass doors and sat down heavily in it. "I thought it was best we do this without her hearing us."

"Do this?" She hissed, "What exactly is this Edward? Is this where you tell me it's your way or the highway?"

"Would it matter if I tried that approach?" I asked, totally sure it wouldn't make a single iota of difference to the outcome of this night. "I promised you a partnership Bella, that's what I'm giving you, can you say the same?"

With another heavy sigh she hoisted herself up so she was sitting against the headboard. She let the covers fall away from her but it wasn't lost to me that she kept Nessa's blanket held tightly in her fist. "I don't want to say anything at all Edward. I don't want to fight. I don't want to sit in my own house in silence anymore and I don't want to go another hour without my daughter." The fight was almost gone from her and I watched, horrified, as her shoulders slumped. She pulled the scrap of pink fabric to her nose and took a deep pull. Her distress was palpable, I could feel her pain radiating from her. She wanted Renesmee like humans wanted air.

"I left her up there because I don't want her to have to hear her parents arguing Bella. I'm sorry that seems to have hurt you even more than I have already. I'll go and get her, this can wait." I told her, beginning to rise from the chair.

"No!" She shouted, startling me. "Don't bring her here, I don't want her to hear us either. But I hurt Edward, when she's not near me I hurt. It actually hurts me. The same as when I'm apart from you, I feel it in my chest, in my gut. I don't feel right until I see you, or smell you again. I've been all day without her." She whimpered as though I didn't already know it.

"It's the same for me Bella, when you aren't with me. When I'm gone from you, or Nessa, for too long. I hurt too. I know you know that to be true. Do you remember how desperate we were by the time we got married? How hard those few days were?" She nodded and I plowed on, resolved to be honest with her. "That dull ache, the feeling that something's not right, something's missing, that's what its like when someone is separated from their mate. Right now that's Seth, Bella."

She turned wide, blazing eyes to me as I said his name and I couldn't help the sigh I let out. She wouldn't be swayed, not if she couldn't tolerate his name being spoken. We were leaving.

"Okay Bella. I tried. God knows I've tried, but this is getting us nowhere. Let's just leave, love."

"I don't want that. I don't want to force you to choose me over your family." She whispered, almost spent.

"Do you think I want this Bella?" I asked her, her eyes whipping over to where I sat, "Do you really think this was what I had in mind when I decided to ask you to marry me?" She shook her head sadly. "I don't want this. I want my wife and I want my daughter. That's all I want."

"I don't know if that's the truth Edward." She whispered and I heard the audible sound of my heart breaking.

"Explain that, please." I managed to squeeze out between my tightly gritted teeth. Not being able to read her made arguing with her in any rational, logical sense impossible. If this was how normal human couples had to fight I didn't envy them in the least!

"You say you only want me and Nessa, but I don't think that's true." She mumbled it and I knew she was ashamed to have thought it.

I got out of the chair and on my hands and knees I crawled across the wooden floor of my bedroom and knelt at the side of the bed. "Bella, I swear to you, at my most basic level all I want is you and Renesmee. Of course I want to be near my family, and yours, and our friends and Seth and the pack are a part of that too, but if I only ever get you and Renesmee for the rest of my life then that's what I want most."

"That's all I want too Edward, you and Renesmee. If we leave they'll all hate me." She sobbed.

"They won't. They'll know you did what was best for you and they'll know that I did what was best for us. It will hurt them, for us to take Nessa away right now, but it's hurting you to stay. You are my priority Bella. They'll understand. I promise." I told her, hoping she'd believe me.

"And we go to Oregon?" She asked.

"We do, yes. It's all set. We'll fly out Saturday afternoon and the cars will go on Monday. I have already asked to see your mother in the morning, I'll tell her then. I'll make them understand Bella, I promise I can make you happy, you just have to let me." I was begging and I had no qualms about it.

"And Seth? What happens to Seth?"

**BPOV**

I knew it was wrong of me to ask, I was on the verge of tearing this family apart, but I had to know. I watched his face very closely as he thought long and hard about his answer. He was angry, I could see that much, I'd expected that.

I wasn't prepared when he stood and began pacing the length of the room, wiping venom off his lips with the back of his hand. I could smell it from where I sat in the bed.

"Are you agreeing to leave Isabella? Because if you are you have no right to care what happens to Seth once we're gone." He said sternly, stopping mid sentence to stare me down before beginning his pacing again.

"I'm not agreeing to anything Edward. I want to know all the options, what everything means before I agree to anything. I'm not stupid. I know that you'll keep him informed once we're gone. Fuck, you'll probably pay to fly him there and sneak him into our home when I'm not there. I smelled him out there in the forest Edward, so don't bother lying about it. I know you let him sleep out there last night. You'll do the same even if we move. I'll never be free of him." I was letting my temper get the better of me again so I took a deep breath before I looked to where he now stood. His expression scared me. I'd never been scared of him before.

He braced his hands on the foot end of the bed and leaned over towards me. "I have never bought him here, ever. You told me you didn't want him here and against my better judgment I agreed. Don't call me a liar Isabella." He raged, his venom flowing freely and hitting the bed covers.

"Okay, so you didn't tell him to sleep there, but you sure as hell knew he was there. Your scent is all over the place out there Edward. You stood there with him last night, you knew he was there and yet you said nothing to me. Were you tempted to take Nessa out there to him?" I asked. I knew it was a low blow before I said it, but couldn't take it back once I did.

His black eyes flashed his warning at me and he spoke very quietly when he did, "What would you have me say Isabella? Someone you confessed to loving only a few short weeks ago is so depressed, so sickened, so heartbroken at being denied his mate that he sleeps in the forest, as close as he dares to, without being caught? Did you want me to admit to you that I thought about taking Renesmee out there in the middle of the night just to make his trembling subside for a little while? Okay then, I did Bella. I did think about it. It was only how upset you would've been with me that stopped me doing just that. So yes, I knew he was there. I could hear his thoughts when he arrived. And yes, I did go out there but not for the reasons you're probably imagining. I told him to go home, to not upset you any more than you already were. That I didn't want to have to fight him off, see him off if you smelled him there. He said he'd take his chances and went right to sleep at the foot of that fucking tree. So you caught me Bella. I'm guilty as charged. Now what?"

I was stunned. Totally unhinged. "What do you want from me Edward?"

He spun on his heel and went back to the chair. "I want you to accept the things you can't change. I want you to believe that I love you because I think you've forgotten. I want you to want to be with me, to be a mother to our daughter. I want you to be happy. I want my family to be happy, and that includes my brothers and sisters, our parents and Seth too. I want all of this to go the fuck away so I can get on with loving you both. It's what I've fought for for so long and it's all gone wrong." He ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes as though he was defeated. "Most of all I wish I didn't have to hear Emmett offer to assassinate the boy just so you'll stay here."

"NO!" I roared, unable to help myself. He stayed motionless in the chair. I wanted to run to the house and beat Emmett myself. Make him promise to never do that. I loved Seth; I didn't want him hurt despite the fact I didn't want to share my daughter with him.

Edward drew in a heavy breath over his clenched teeth, his hands were in fists on his knees, and he was trying so very hard to rein himself in as he spoke. "Bella, a month ago you handed me a check worth a quarter of a million dollars and told me to take it to Sam for Seth's education and now you are saying you'll begrudge me letting him know that our daughter is alive and well if we move to another state without him?" He snarled this so viciously in my direction that I cowered back into the bed. "Isabella, hear me when I say this, really listen to me, I beg of you. We can move away, we can flee to the other side of the earth, but Seth will come for her. The only thing I know that is more certain than that is that she will search for him too. This fixes nothing, this solves nothing, this only delays the inevitable Isabella. Hear it, know it, believe it." And with that he stormed out of our bedroom and into the night.

**EPOV**

I'd made it worse by being honest. There really was no other way though. Without honesty we had nothing.

I wanted her to hear what she was putting me through, what she was doing to Seth and most of all I wanted her to hear what Emmett had resorted to. If that shocked her half as much as it had shocked me we might have a chance to make this right.

As I ran away from the cottage I hoped to Christ I knew her as well as I thought I did. Right about now she'd be swinging between rage and guilt. She should be too. No matter how much I loved and understood how she felt she was responsible for this.

She'd never once asked me what I thought about relinquishing our daughter to a wolf, never once had she bothered to find out how I was doing these past days. She'd been so wrapped up in her own anger and pain she'd forgotten the promises we'd made to each other. Our equal partnership had fallen by the wayside and for the first time it hadn't been me who'd done it.

I knew before I smelled or saw him that Seth was at the foot of that fucking tree again tonight. His thoughts assaulted me as I raced closer and closer to him. '_Stop yelling at her…stop yelling…stop fighting…you're upsetting her…' _

"You're a fine fucking pair." I told him as I skidded to a halt in front of him. "She's in there deciding whether or not to ruin all our lives and make us leave and you're out here begging me to stop yelling at her! I cannot fucking win!" I snarled.

'_Don't yell at her…the rest doesn't matter…just stop fighting.' _His huge wolfs head slumped back to his paws and his eyes closed as if he was going back to sleep.

"Nessa's at the house Seth, you can go up there, they'll let you sleep inside tonight. I'll call ahead if you want me to." I told him as I sat beside him on the wet grass.

'_I'm not here for Nessa.'_ He told me and it stopped me dead. _'I'm going to phase, wait for me yeah?'_ He asked and I said I would.

"What are you here for then?" I asked when he came back out of the trees in his human form. His thoughts were so sluggish I couldn't pick a coherent thread from any of them.

He slid down onto his knees and sat with me, "I'm here for my friend. Your brothers and sisters came to see me tonight. They told me you were leaving, Alice told me she'd fought with Bella, Jasper looked sick. Emmett was just angry and Rose looked like she actually cared. They told me Esme was upset and Carlisle had begged you to let him talk to her. You're all ganging up on her and I don't like it." He told me sternly. "I came out here to ask her to talk to me, not about Nessa, but about her and me. But when I got close to the cottage I could hear you fighting so I backed up and came back here. Figured I'd wait you out and then come talk to you both. Didn't get that far, I fell asleep."

All I could do was stare at him. "Have you come to tell us you'll stay away from Renesmee, Seth?" I asked, incredulous when I read it in his thoughts.

"I have." He let his shoulders relax and I knew he was telling me the truth. He'd come to terms with his loss and was prepared to tell Bella himself of his decision. "I love Bella like a sister Edward and I know you didn't always like that about me, but I do love her. You've been real good to me since, you know, since the day Nessa was born and I'm grateful, but I cant let Bella leave her family and everything she knows and loves because of me."

"Seth, son, you need to come with me now." I stood and offered him my hand, he took it and I helped him get to his feet. He was very frail, very pale and looked as though he'd lost some weight. This had to end now or he'd end up ill.

**BPOV**

Edward came home an hour later, trailing Seth behind him.

To say that I was stunned and shocked was the understatement of the century. Edward strode into the bedroom, leaving Seth in the living room – I'd smelled him as they'd approached the cottage anyway, so there was no way to hide the fact from me – and stood at the foot of the bed.

"Get up, get dressed. You need to hear this for yourself." And then he went back to the living room.

I'd not been given much choice but to comply and I had nothing to lose so I did what he told me to do. I got out of the bed, threw on some clothes and went out into the living room. Seth was standing in front of the unlit fire staring at the portrait of Nessa I'd taken the very first day we'd bought her home. She had asked to feel Edward's skin and he'd bared his chest for her naked body. His hand cupped her bottom and she looked so at ease, so perfectly content to lie there in his huge hands. I'd developed it in black and white just like the ones that hung above our bed in the big house.

Edward was sat on the sofa with his fists clenched on his knees. Neither of them moved when I entered the room and I was sorry that Edward felt he couldn't meet my eyes.

"Hello Seth." I mumbled and went to sit on the piano stool opposite Edward.

"Hey." Seth whispered in return, he didn't meet my eyes.

Edward huffed, "Okay, this has gone on long enough. This gets decided here and now. Bella, Seth came out here tonight to talk to you. He's asked me not to yell at you anymore, he wants us to stop fighting. He has something he wants to tell you, so please just let him do that and then you need to tell me, tell us both, what it is you want to do."

I looked to Seth and all I saw was pain. He looked sick. Like he hadn't slept in the week since Nessa had been born. They'd all told me that but I thought it was just something people said, you know, when someone was sad they say they haven't eaten or slept in an age. Looking at Seth I believed that he hadn't. "Okay, I'll listen." I said so he'd know I was willing.

Seth looked to Edward who nodded for him to start and then he looked at me. "I'm so sorry for all this Bella. I never meant for any of this to happen." I could tell he was getting upset, could see the tears forming in his eyes. "I love you Bella, I love you like a sister, I always have. I don't want you to be hurt and everyone is ganging up on you over this, over me, so I've come to tell you that I'm going away. You don't have to take Nessa away from the family and your friends. My moms been in contact with a cousin of hers in Baltimore, I'm going to go there and go to school with her kids. So you can stay here and just be happy."

"Shit." Edward mumbled and I looked to him with wide eyes. He hadn't known this part. He'd wanted me to see how ill Seth looked, how unhappy he was but he hadn't know this part. I saw Edward's hand twitch towards Seth, as though he was going to reach out for him but was keeping himself in check as best he could. Edward was living Seth's pain with him. If I kept hurting Seth I was hurting Edward too.

"When she's grown you'll come for her?" I asked, needing to know that what Edward had assumed was correct.

"I think so, yes. I can't see myself without her forever. I know that will hurt you then as much as now, but maybe, if you can see it's what Nessa wants too, it might not be so bad then? You'll get to have your baby while she's a baby, at least." He shrugged as though it was no big deal but he wasn't fooling me. His tears spilled over his cheeks and he swatted at them so we wouldn't see them.

Edward was staring at me then. "You need to tell us what you want to do Bella." He said it so impassively, as though he was done fighting me, he would do what I wanted, even if that meant making everyone else unhappy.

I sat quietly for the longest time. I looked first at my husband. He looked as haggard as I felt. He'd not shaved and his clothes were the same ones he'd worn the day before. In his attempt to avoid me in his own house he'd gone without clean clothes. Now he sat slumped on the sofa with his head in his hands in utter defeat. I'd bought him to his limit, almost to his knees.

I looked to Seth who stood on the hearth quietly crying, already mourning his loss. He was as disheveled as Edward. His clothes were crumpled and he was pale and far too thin. His eyes had lost not only their fight but also any hint of the Seth I'd known and loved a week ago.

Edward was right. A few days ago I'd told this boy I loved him. I knew that I still did. He'd told me tonight he still loved me. I'd pledged my money for his boy, to see him right through his schooling and on into his dream of becoming a doctor. I'd fought with him the day Jacob fell, he'd fought for me and for my daughter the day James and Victoria enacted their terrible plan. And this was how I was repaying his faith in me? Was I really going to do this to him? To Edward? To Nessa and to us?

"No." I said both in answer to my own question and to the one Edward had asked of me. "We're staying." I moved very carefully across the small room and stood in front of my friend. I took his hand in mine and felt his trembling. "Seth, I'm so sorry I did this. This was all my fault. I was being selfish and greedy and I've put you through hell. I'm so sorry. Please, don't leave us. Nessa needs you…I need you. I won't keep you apart again, I promise." Seth turned his face to mine and I saw the glimmer of hope come across his beautiful features. "I mean it, I promise, it might take me a little while to get used to it, but I won't keep you apart again. Please say you'll forgive me?" I begged as he slumped to the floor in floods of tears.

I went to my knees and held him to me while cried. Great big fat tears rolled out of his eyes as he garbled his thanks. I'd never felt so sorry, so guilty and so fucking ashamed of myself in all my life.

When his sobbing subsided and he gathered himself enough to just sit cross-legged on the hearth I left him and went to Edward.

He was still hunched over, he'd not moved as I'd expected him to. "Edward." I said softly, but he didn't stir. He continued to stare at the floor, between his hands as his head rested in them, his elbows braced on his knees. "Edward." I said a little louder and he lifted his head. "I want to stay here Edward. With my family, and that includes Seth. Please say you can forgive me all this?" I wasn't too proud to beg now.

**EPOV**

I'd waited so long to hear her say those words, now that I had I didn't know what to do or what to say.

I wanted it to be the truth but didn't trust her to know what she wanted that precisely. "How can you be sure Isabella?" I rasped out of my thickened throat. Watching Seth in so much pain and having to put my wife through this on his behalf had done me in; in one foul swoop I'd been knocked asunder. "Is it just because you've seen Seth's pain for yourself now? Is this a reaction to the pressure? What if you change your mind, will we need to go through this all again? And what of Nessa? You've said you'll allow this, but can you really allow Nessa to spend time with Seth, or is this just because you think it's what I want?"

I lifted my head a little and looked at her weary face. I needed her to tell me why she had changed her mind so succinctly, she'd done a complete three hundred sixty degree turn and I needed to be sure it was what she really wanted.

She flicked her legs out from under herself and sat on her bottom on the floor, right in front of me. She put her hands on my knees and swept my arms aside so that I was looking directly at her, her directly at me, though she was lower than me in this position.

"Edward. I am sure. Yes, it's partly because I can see Seth's pain for myself, and that's a good thing. I'd been told over and over how much this hurt him, but until I saw it I just thought it was maybe a figure of speech. I can see for myself that it's not." She drew in a breath but kept going after that, "As for the rest, I don't know. Maybe it will be hard for me to see them together for a bit, it probably will be strange for a little while. But that's the same for you too, surely?" She asked me and I nodded meekly. "Okay, so we'll learn to get through that part together. If you want to, that is. I can't prove to you that I've changed my mind for the right reasons Edward, I can only tell you what I know to be true. If you looked and felt like Seth does now when you were away from me then I know, truthfully, that I never really understood imprinting at all."

It was that one statement, that one admission from her that changed everything for me. I let my heart swell and the smile come to my mouth. She hadn't ever understood imprinting until right this very moment. Seeing Seth, as he was, in pain as he was, and knowing it was all because he couldn't be near the one he had imprinted on had opened her eyes and her mind to what it must have been like for me. She knew now. Now she understood.

"Okay Isabella. We'll stay. Thank you." I managed to get out before pulling her up to me and kissing her.

When she pulled away she took my hand in hers, her slender fingers running over the ridges in my wedding ring. "I didn't know Edward, I don't think I ever really knew just what it meant. I can see it now. I won't put them through that, if I'd known how it was for you I'd have done all I could to stop it for you too. I'm sorry you had to live through it, for me." She whispered.

'I should leave.' Seth thought, brining me back to the here and now abruptly.

"No, Seth, stay, please." I told him as he got to his feet. He was thinking about how Bella and I would want some privacy, to 'make up' as it were. "Thanks for thinking that, but no. We'll go to the big house now. This needs to be put to rest tonight." I announced and Bella stiffened. "Bella, they love you, it's done now. It will be forgotten by the time the sun comes up, trust me on this."

"Okay Edward." She whispered again before dropping a light kiss on my hand, right above my wedding ring. I smiled; it was something I would normally have done to her, to sooth myself. We were so very similar.

**BPOV**

I wanted this to be done with tonight too so I didn't argue when Edward suggested we go to the house and do it right then. I wanted to do it, I wanted to be the one to tell the family we were staying, and why.

But most of all I needed to be with Nessa now. Even if she was asleep I just needed to be in the same room with her, I needed to touch her and smell her to alleviate the ache in my chest and gut.

"You need to shower and change Edward." I told him, looking at him from head to toe. "I do too. Seth, why don't you lie down here for a bit, we'll be quick." I motioned for him to lie down on the sofa and he was snoring by the time Edward and I got into the shower.

There was no talk or even the hint of being intimate right then. I was pleased to be close to him again, so happy the tension of fighting was gone from between us, but it still felt uneasy, stilted.

We washed ourselves and whilst it wasn't a totally silent operation we weren't 'chatty' either.

When we were dry we went into our bedroom and tugged on clean clothes. Edward offered to brush out my hair, which I always loved, so I said he could. He kissed me softly at each temple when he was done. "I love you Bella. Always. Forever." He told me quietly.

I grabbed a hold of his wrist and held it in my hand, "I love you too Edward, always and forever." I echoed.

"Let's go and make the family happy." He smiled down at me and my heart caught fire. He looked so carefree again, so happy, so seventeen.

"Alice will have told them anyway, it won't be such a surprise." I said in a mock grumpy voice.

"Nope, Seth's been here. She won't know shit. You'll get to surprise them, love." He chuckled.

That made me laugh and it woke Seth. By the time we started our run to the house Seth was in on the joke and was eager to help in getting to surprise the normally 'unsurpriseable ' Cullen's.

The house was quiet when we got there, the only sound was the soft snuffling of my daughter, asleep somewhere inside.

"Rose and Emmett's suite. All of them." Edward nodded towards the stairs and the three of us flew up them.

The door to the suite was open but Rose called us inside when we got to the threshold.

The two boys waited for me to enter and then they followed. The scene that greeted us was, for want of a better word, surreal.

Esme lay on one side of the bed, Nessa was asleep beside her, Carlisle was lying on the other side as though they were corralling her, in case she rolled off. They were both turned inwards, the two adults, facing her, watching her as she slept.

Rose sat on the blanket box at the foot of her bed, magazine in hand. She lifted her eyes to watch the sleeping infant every few seconds, as though she was the designated sentry.

Emmett sat at his desk in the little study, blueprints spread out around him, a charcoal pencil in his hand. He lifted his head to catalogue us as we entered but soon returned his attention to the blueprints.

Jasper was sat on the sofa under the windows, Alice between his knees, her back to his chest. He had a gun magazine in his hands, she an early childhood development book in hers. She had a yellow highlighter between her teeth.

Renesmee's scent hit me full on as I stepped closer to the bed. It flooded my senses and settled in my mouth and nose. I drew her in hungrily, desperate to touch her as well as smell her.

Trying to keep the mood light I said casually, "Hey guys." I whispered. "How has she been for you?"

Alice withdrew the pen from her mouth and looked to where we were stood. "How about you tell us what's going on, then we can play happy families?" She said rather angrily.

"Alice." Edward growled but I reached behind me and grabbed his hand.

I heard Seth growl softly, defending me too and it made me smile. Nothing had really changed for us after all. "No Edward, she's right. They deserve to know." I told him, feeling him squeeze my hand in return. "Seth, it's okay. I deserved that." I told Seth and saw him crease his eyes up in a scowl directed specifically at Alice.

Carlisle raised himself up onto one elbow and looked across the bed to where we three stood. "Have you reached a decision?" He asked us, but had aimed it at nobody in particular.

"We're staying." I said firmly, to put them out of their misery.

There was a loud, collective sigh of relief and then they all took a turn to come and hug or kiss us individually, then they settled back into the positions they'd held before I'd spoken.

"Thank you, all of you. We'll do whatever we can to make it work, with you, for you, you just let us know what to do." Esme whispered.

"I'm so sorry everyone, I hope you can all forgive me." I bowed my head and spoke slowly and quietly, letting them know I really was sorry.

"Now, now, none of that. That's not what this family is about. There are no recriminations here, no grudges held." Carlisle said quite sharply, turning to look at each of his children in turn.

**EPOV**

I felt Seth sway beside me, the air stirred, making his scent more pungent to me. I looked to him and saw that he was exhausted, the mixture of fear and relief had swamped his adrenaline reserves and left him reeling.

"Seth is dead on his feet, shall we get you into a bed, son?" I asked him, putting an arm around his shoulders to keep him upright.

He didn't want to leave Renesmee's presence but I knew he'd be asleep in seconds once he hit a mattress.

"Yes of course, are you hungry Seth?" Esme was on her feet and ushering the newest member of my family down the stairs and into the kitchen for something to eat and drink before I had time to protest and say he just needed sleep.

'Let me take care of him Edward, you and Bella need to say your peace to the family.' Esme told me via her thoughts as she went downstairs. I wished I could've told her thank you.

Bella had gone to sit on the side of the bed now that Esme had vacated that side and her hand was stroking Nessa's back. I watched as Bella drew in a long, slow breath, taking in our daughters scent once again. She let the breath out and her shoulders slumped in relief, as Seth's had. I moved towards her and sat behind her, pulling her slightly to me so that she could rest against me. I put on hand on her waist, just needing to touch her and my other hand I put onto the back of Nessa's hand while she slept. Her dreams were just swirls of light and colour tonight. She had not a care in the world, which was as it should be.

"What is she dreaming about?" Bella asked me quietly, knowing I'd just checked for myself.

"Nothing in particular." I told her with a small smile, knowing she'd be relieved with the answer. She was.

"I'm going to put her in her crib, then we'll talk, yes?" Bella asked the rest of the family. They all agreed to her plan and said they'd meet her in the dining room. Bella stilled slightly when it was put to her that they wanted it to be like a meeting, a formal family meeting, but she soon steadied and headed out of Rose's room and up to ours with the sleeping baby in her arms.

I stayed on the bed a moment longer once everyone else cleared out. Their thoughts were mixed, jumbled. Some were angry, some were hurt, all were relieved we were staying.

The night was not over, not by a long shot.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you found something you liked in this chapter please review. Alternately, if you'd like to tell me where I've gone wrong please review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 – Bridge over the River Sigh

7.

**BPOV**

I put Nessa into the crib and sat watching her sleep for a long moment. She'd not stirred the entire time we'd spoken in Rose and Emmett's room and she'd not stirred once since I'd moved her to her own bed.

She really was remarkable. So easy going, so easily satisfied. So beautiful.

I didn't really want to go back downstairs, to face the angry and hurt faces of my family, but I knew I had to. I had to do that so that we could move on, so that we could get on with living our lives.

I had a lot to answer for, not least with Alice who I'd yelled at and with Emmett who I'd driven to near violence to get me to stay. I shuddered at the thought of the lengths he'd go to to keep me here and happy. I knew he'd do it too, it wasn't an idle threat. Black and white.

I pulled the blanket taut over my sleeping beauty's chest and listened to the house around me. I lifted the dust cloth from the bedside table and the clock read 3am. It was all very quiet. The only real sounds were Esme cleaning up from Seth's hurried sandwich and Seth's snores from the guest room on the bottom floor. All else was silent. They were waiting for me.

I went into the bathroom and splashed cold water onto my face. I brushed my hair and my teeth and felt a little more myself. I gave myself a little mental pep talk and then I went down to the dining room to face them.

They all sat in their normal places, mate beside mate. Edward held my chair for me and once I was sitting Carlisle told me I had the floor. Great.

"I guess I just want to say how sorry I am for the way I've behaved." I hung my head and hoped someone else would say something.

Alice saved me, sort of, in a way that only Alice could. "I love you Bella, but if you ever tell me that my family are none of my business again we're going to have a big problem. Other than that you're forgiven from me." She smiled sweetly, tilted her head towards me and blew me a little kiss. "Thank you for staying." She whispered at the end, as an afterthought.

"Thanks Alice. I love you too you know." I mumbled, suitably chastised. "I didn't really mean it, well I did, but I'm sorry for the way I said it." I told her, not wanting to hurt her feelings again. "I know I'm a lot younger than you guys, in all the ways that count, vampire and human, but I'm married and a mother now, you have to let me be those things as well as seventeen and a newborn. I have no better idea than you lot do about when to let me be which, or what, but we'll figure it out." I sure hoped that made some sense because it didn't when I said it!

It was Esme who spoke, which surprised me, she was often just a follower, hardly ever a leader. I knew she could be both so I wondered if she chose which to be or whether it was just assumed she'd follow? I was about to find out. "You are very young by modern standards. But in times gone by you'd have been treated as an adult and you'd be expected to behave as one. All the things you've been feeling are fairly normal, from what I know of motherhood, but quite aside from that, you choosing to react rather than rationalize is something I hope you'll learn with maturity." She was smiling but I felt as though I'd been bought down a peg or two by her simple statement. I was being told to grow up and act my age.

I couldn't help the slight giggle that came out of my mouth. Edward huffed, thinking I wasn't taking this talk seriously, but I turned to him and gave him a 'look' and then I turned back to Esme. "You wish I'd grow up and act my age. I couldn't agree more. I'm so sorry I behaved like a belligerent child this week mom. I'll do better, I promise. I'm a mom now too, so perhaps you could teach me?"

She beamed at me across the table. Edward's hand, as it lie on the back of my chair, snaked around a little and cupped my shoulder with his fingers, squeezing me lightly in support. Esme said nothing but she did put her hand to her heart and nod in my direction. I echoed her movement and put my hand over my heart.

I looked to the others and wondered who'd be next to have their say.

Emmett was smirking at me, he wanted a turn. "Yes Emmett, do you have something to share with the class?" I chuckled.

"You know we're all good sissy. You're staying, that's all I care about." Emmett reached across the table and fist bumped Edward thenand winked at me. Emmett was over it already.

"Thanks Em." I whispered, hoping the others would be as gracious and as easily pleased. "'I don't want anymore talk of you 'sorting' Seth out either, right?" I added the quotation marks for good measure, making sure Emmett knew what I meant. He hung his head and nodded but offered no apology for his offer. I thought that was fair enough, or as fair as I was likely to get from Emmett at that moment.

Carlisle looked to Esme before he spoke, so I knew whatever he had to say was on behalf of them both. "I won't say we're happy about the way this was handled, and that's partly my fault, but we are so happy you're staying, of course." He said softly. "I'm so very sorry if I didn't do enough to explain imprinting to you in the early days, if that has been the cause of your distress then that is my sin to bear. I'll do my best to teach you all that I know from now on."

I wanted to rush to the other side of the table and hug him! "No, please, don't say that. It's nobody's fault but mine. I could've asked more questions, I could've listened more, hell, I could've gone and spoken to Seth before now, this wouldn't have taken quite so long to fix." I mused half to myself. "I promise, from now on, I'll listen more Carlisle. I'd be grateful for anything you'd care to teach me."

"That's very kind of you to say. I'll look forward to teaching you then." He smiled.

"Are you sure this is what you want Bella?" Jasper asked in a low voice. "You feel relieved to me but not entirely resolved." He said, squinting his eyes at me as if he could see as well as feel what I was feeling.

"I am relieved." I admitted, "I'm relieved that Seth won't be hurting anymore and that Nessa can be happy to have him around. I can't say I'm not apprehensive because I am. It sort of hurts when she shows me her memories of them together, but I'll get used to it. I'm sorry you've had to soak all this up from us Jaz."

"It's not been easy for me either, Bella." Edward whispered in my ear. "It's a little, ah, difficult I think is the right word for now, to watch them together for me too." He said quietly and I nodded. We'd have to talk about that further, when we were alone.

Jasper though on it a little before he replied to me. "It's not been pleasant, I can assure you. But it feels better now, a lot better." He tipped his head to me and smiled then turned to offer Edward another smile. The meaning was clear. Jasper felt better now that we felt better. .

"We are still having a christening, right?" Rose asked, leaning over so she could see around Emmett to where I sat. It was clear that Rose wasn't able to, or willing to, discuss what had gone on, and like Emmett she was already moving on. The next most important thing for Rose was Nessa.

I looked around the table, trying to see what the others thought about that. "I want to, yes. I understand if you are all still too angry with me to do that, I'll organize it all, I promise Rose."

Edward snorted beside me and I turned to see his radiant face completely overtaken by his gorgeous crooked smile. It had seemed such a long time since I'd seen that particular smile, my desire for him rose within me with such a force I had to hold my breath and close my eyes to rein it in.

I raised my eyebrows to ask what he was so happy about but instead of answering he nodded back towards the others. I turned to look at them, hoping to find an answer but all that had changed was Alice' scowl.

"There will be a christening alright. It's planned already, jeez, a little credit here Bella. What was it you said yesterday? 'Build a baby and they will come'?" I raised my eyes for a moment, and then I remembered, the bloody woman sees _everything! _"Well, they're all invited and they're all coming, so there will be a christening." She punctuated this by putting her hands on her hips and poking her tongue at me.

I guess I'd been told. "Oh good, I've already bought a dress." Rose laughed.

**EPOV**

While Bella was busy laughing with the others I took the split second of opportunity to mouth 'thank you' to Alice.

'_It was far too tense in here, you're welcome big brother.' _She told me mentally, before joining in the laughter.

We spent another hour or so in the dining room just talking about – and planning - what had changed for us in the past few days. Some suggestions were made to both Bella and I on how to manage the Seth situation and how best to keep control of it.

The only firm decision made after all the discussion was that we had to keep Sue and Harry involved in the process the whole way along. Seth was only fifteen after all and his parents would want to know what was going on as much as they'd want a say in it too. was going to happen in the next few weeks.

Our first priority was going to be Nessa's feeding regimen. Carlisle had the blood on hand now, so in the morning – which was fast approaching – we'd try her with a little of it for the first time.

Second on the agenda for the Cullen's was Seth. We – and by that I meant me, Bella and Seth himself – needed to go to the Rez and meet with Seth's parents and the pack. Seth was only fifteen and as such his parents would want to know what was happening with him. Sue's worry about her son's health would need to be addressed with her and we'd need to come to some arrangement about proper visitation and boundaries for him. That would need to include Sam at some point. As Seth's alpha he'd need to be kept abreast of the situation too.

I knew Bella was apprehensive about meeting with the pack, the last time she'd seen them she'd been beating me up on the front stairs of the big house. I knew none of the wolves had batted an eyelid over it, but I knew she felt bad for acting that way. We were still to address that between the two of us.

Third, Charlie and Renee. They'd gone home on Sunday night thinking all would be well with us. Luckily we'd not given them any reason to think otherwise, so Bella wouldn't need to explain too much, but they had been kept out of the loop purposely over the past few days. I would be going to see Renee later this morning to catch her up on the news.

Fourth on the agenda was the christening. Alice was full of details and information about what they'd – Alice and Rose were organizing the bulk of the occasion, with help from Esme and Renee as needed – already organized and what was still to be done.

With only eleven days until the actual ceremony there were quite a few things left to do.

That discussion led us on to who was likely to attend.

Everyone had invited friends or acquaintances and whilst I knew everyone who was named, Bella knew very few of them. Of course the vampires who'd attended our wedding she knew, and Alice told us that they had all replied to our messages and invites and were all attending. There were a few extras from covens and clans who'd been in attendance then, but mostly the numbers were similar.

But then there were the Egyptians and the Amazons who intended coming all that way just to meet my daughter. I was at once concerned about the arrival of some of them, but was sure that Renesmee would charm them as she had all of us.

Before they arrived we'd have to have a little family history lesson. _That_ should be interesting!

Seth rose from his sleep at seven and came out into the living room to us looking much better than the state he'd gone to bed in the night before. The circles under his eyes, though not gone, were less prominent. His thoughts were a lot smoother, calmer and he told me, silently, that he felt better for the more peaceful sleep. He was eager to see Renesmee but she'd not risen when he woke so he spent his time showering, dressing in some of Jasper's clothes and then eating the mountain of food Esme had had so much enjoyment in making for him.

When Nessa did waken Bella and I bathed her in the small tub in Alice' bathroom and then we dressed her in clothes that Alice had laid out on her bed. I brushed her curls, which gave me an enormous amount of pleasure, as I'd not done it yesterday, then we took her downstairs to see Seth and to try out Carlisle's animal blood stash.

**BPOV**

Seth came right to us when we got to the bottom stair but he held back until I told him he could take Nessa from me.

"Thanks Bell's." He told me with a wide smile as I put Nessa into his hands. "Hey there little one. Wanna show me what I missed yesterday?" He asked her as he buried his nose into her neck and drank in her scent. He took her to the sofa and sat down with her in his lap, straight away she was reaching her hand towards his cheek, eager to share with him.

I sighed, not loudly but loud enough that everyone heard me. All eyes, and that meant seven vampires and a wolf, turned to me to see what my reaction was going to be. I shook my head ruefully, unsure whether to be pissed that they doubted my decision so blatantly, or whether to just accept that they'd all take a little while to believe I really was okay with Seth and Nessa spending time together. "How about we all just let them have their moment together huh?" I nodded to where they sat, completely engrossed in each other, "How about we get her breakfast ready daddy?" I turned to Edward to see him smiling down at me.

He moved my hair aside and kissed me solidly on my exposed neck, making me shiver. "You, beautiful girl, are simply perfect." He whispered and kissed me again. "Come and teach me how to use a microwave." And with that he tugged me away from the living room and into the kitchen.

Esme was already there, cleaning up after Seth's breakfast but she put down her dishtowel and came right to me as soon as I got into the room. She grabbed my wrists and pulled me to her, hugging me tightly. "That was both wonderful and very grown up Bella." She whispered as she kissed my cheek. I assumed she was talking about how I'd handled Seth and Nessa's reunion just now but she could easily have been talking about the around the table discussion that had gone on during the night. Either way her compliment meant a lot to me.

"Thanks." I mumbled. "Edward needs a lesson with the microwave." I told her and she swept her hand around the room, offering it for our use.

Edward and I went to the refrigerator and took out one of the little pouches of blood. I held it to my nose but apart from a slight smell of antiseptic I couldn't really smell the blood through the plastic. I held it out to Edward and he did the same. "Can you smell it?" I asked.

"No. Only the chemicals on the outside. Do you want me to do this Bella? How is your thirst today?" He asked, rubbing circles with his thumb on the back of my hand.

Out of habit I put my hand to my throat, there was a slight ache, there always was, but no burn. I'd hunted – rather roughly and with far too much force, due to my anger – only yesterday. "I'm all good Edward, but you can do it seeing as you need the lesson. I think it will be okay to heat it up without puncturing the bag, but just in case I'll grab a cloth." I went to the sink to retrieve a cloth and then I put the bag on the glass plate in the bottom of the microwave. "Turn that dial there to high and then set the time for about thirty seconds and press start." He did that and we both watched as the pouch turned round and round. It wasn't very exciting but Edward stood stock-still and took it all in as if he was watching a miracle in the making. When the bell pinged and the turntable stopped turning Edward took the pouch out. "Squish it in your fingers, move the warm bits around, even out the heat." I suggested and watched as he manipulated the liquid between his slender fingers.

"It's warm but not hot. How will we know when it's the right temperature?" He asked, puzzled.

"Taste it." Esme suggested.

"Well duh!" I giggled. "Good one Esme!" I told her. The stainless steel bottles hadn't arrived yet so we were stuck with the clear plastic ones for now, but seeing as my thirst was well controlled at the moment it wouldn't be a problem for me today. I took one of the bottles off the dish rack and set it on the counter. "Snip the corner off the pouch Edward." I told him, thinking he'd do it with scissors from the drawer under the sink. Instead he used his teeth! It was wrong to be turned on by that, wasn't it?

"What?" He said, that fucking gorgeous crooked grin on his face.

I looked first to where Esme was. She could see Edward side on from where she stood at the side of the counter, looking over a cookbook. I leaned up on tiptoe, threaded a hand into the hair at the back of his neck and pulled his lips down to mine. To anyone who cared to look it would've looked quite chaste, a simple kiss from wife to husband. It was the swipe of my tongue over his bottom lip, unseen by the others, that told Edward what I'd been thinking. When I let his lips go and stepped away his expression told me he knew 'what'.

I went back to what I'd been doing and held the bottle still while Edward pushed the sticky fluid from the pouch through the corner hole he'd made. The smell of it hit my nostrils and I flared them, taking in the delicious aroma. It was different to what I got from the animals in the forest. Richer, meatier, but still smelled nowhere as good as those hikers had that first day after my change.

"Bella?" Edward said softly, snapping me back to the present. "Are you okay? Is this too much?"

I giggled a little, "No, I'm fine. Does it bother you at all?" I asked.

He closed his eyes and drew in a breath over his lips and then opened his eyes again. "It smells nice, but I'm not thirsty." He said simply.

I found the box of teats my mother had bought and I put one through the little ring that held it onto the bottle, ready to go when we were sure the temperature was right. I was about to offer a taste to Edward to check when Renesmee let out a loud, piercing wail.

The bottle forgotten we all ran to the living room to see what the problem was.

"What is it?" Edward demanded of Seth who looked shocked.

"She's hungry." He said carefully, seeming to notice for the first time that eight vampires were now in a ring around where he sat and every single one of them were looking at him as though he'd done something to hurt the baby in his lap. "I swear, I didn't hurt her. She smelled the blood and then she cried out, I figure she's hungry, right Edward?" He looked so frightened.

I sighed in relief and went to sit beside him on the sofa. I put my arm around his shoulders, "Ok, it's okay." I told him and then I addressed my daughter. "Are you hungry little one?" I looked to Edward who was concentrating on her hard.

"She's hungry, that's all. I'll get the bottle. We'll sort out the temperature once she'd had something to drink." He said, already walking back to the kitchen to retrieve the bottle.

He came back with it in his hand and I gave him the ring with the teat poking through it. He sat beside me on the sofa and Seth handed Nessa to me. He squinted at the bottle as Edward capped it, but said nothing. Nessa started wriggling in my hands and clasping her fists towards Edward. I tucked her up against my body, holding her like a little football and Edward leaned over, our shoulders touching, and put the bottle to her lips. "There you go pretty girl. You tell daddy if you like that." He crooned as she took the teat between her little pink lips.

It was easy to tell that she liked it. The loud sucking noises said it all. Edward was smiling warmly down at her so I figured all was well. She seemed to like it, from what I could tell anyway. Edward held the bottle but I held the baby. It was the sweetest feeling, sharing this together. I used my elbow to nudge Seth and he leaned over a little, his shoulder now touching mine as Edward's was.

"You like that little one?" Seth asked her carefully.

"She says she does, but it's a little cold." Edward chuckled.

**EPOV**

The room was crowded but it felt so intimate, sharing this with Bella and Seth. The three of us watching our girl take this bottle like this.

I took a second to look around. They were all there, all watching the scene as it unfolded but each thought was different. The same, but different.

Alice was thinking how lovely it was that we were sharing the feeding.

Rose thought how sweet it was that we'd get to do this with her, at least for a little while before she began hunting for herself.

Carlisle was pleased Nessa seemed to be feeding well, that his efforts and theories had come to fruition.

Jasper was just soaking up the good vibes, after a week of misery and anguish it now felt like a veil had been lifted off the house and it was once again a place he could live and relax in.

Emmett was thinking how lucky he was that he hadn't 'removed' Seth after all.

Esme was wondering how long it would be before we'd let her feed the baby like this.

I turned my attention to Seth and had to laugh.

"It doesn't smell gross to her Seth, only to you." I chuckled and Seth screwed up his face in mock disgust as he watched Nessa slurp her way through the bottom third of the bottle. "It'll be better once she's out hunting with us, son." I told him.

"Really? She'll be able to hunt with us?" He asked, his eyes wide and his brain already in 'fun in the forest' mode. "Cool." He mumbled then leaned over Nessa a little more, she turned her eyes to his face immediately. "Can't wait till you can have fun with me little one. I bet you'll be fast too!" He crowed.

Bella shuddered at the thought but it didn't bother me nearly as much as it had the first time I'd thought it. It was inevitable. She was half vampire, she was going to need to learn to hunt for herself at some point. If her rate of growth stayed steady she'd need either a lot of human food to supplement the growth pattern, or a lot of blood. More blood than Carlisle could reasonably extract from this 'trial' at the hospital.

I wasn't opposed to teaching her to hunt, it was mostly instinctual, and from what I'd already learned of my child she was as quick a study as her mother. She'd do fine. And she had Seth. His hunting instincts were part of who and what he was too, they'd learn together.

"What are you thinking beautiful boy?" Bella whispered to me, breaking me from my daydream. I looked down at Nessa, who was now chewing on my thumb as usual, the bottle gone from my hand and sitting on the coffee table. I'd totally zoned out!

I laughed. "Sorry, I got lost in thought there. How did you like that pretty girl?" I asked the now smiling baby.

'_I will eat that. Mommy smell!' _She told me, which I again equated with what she knew of blood via Bella. The taste and smell of it matched what she'd had through Bella, so she called it mommy smell.

"She liked it. She says she'll eat that. It's mommy smell." I laughed, making Bella giggle too.

"Mommy smell huh? Well then, mommy smell it is for little Nessa!" Bella bent down and kissed the little wriggling girl all over her tummy, making her squeal in delight.

Alice stepped forward and asked if she could have the baby for a few minutes before her and Jasper set off to school. Bella handed her over and I turned to Seth. "Are you up to going to school? You haven't had a lot of sleep."

He stretched, his long limbs flopping over the extremes of the sofa at each point. "I think I'll go actually. I've missed a bit lately and I have to keep my grades up, don't I Bell's?" He smirked.

Bella ribbed him with her elbow and he feigned pain, "You sure do. No deadbeats near my little girl." She played along.

They stared at each other for a few minutes, the previous tension of their floundering friendship missing from their faces and body language. They were going to be all right. Thank god.

Rose was next to insist on a few minutes with the baby, citing her need to get to work and keep her boss sweet, which made Seth laugh again. So when Rose took Nessa, Alice and Jasper said their goodbyes, then Seth patted Nessa on the head before going off to school with them. I promised to call his parents and let them know what had happened during the night and also to set up a time to go and speak with them.

Carlisle was the next to depart. Before he left he gave Bella and I a chart to fill out so we could map her diet. Working out how much blood she'd need so he was able to have it on hand. We'd also fill out her weight, height/length and general growth on the chart. He wanted to make a more detailed study of her, with our permission of course, so that there would at least be a record if another vampire was ever in the position we'd found ourselves in.

With a soft kiss to her forehead he said his goodbyes to my wriggling daughter. After a rather sensual – and not wholly hidden – goodbye with Esme he was off to the hospital for the day.

Emmett excused himself and went off to our suite to begin the painting process. He put Nessa back into Esme's arms and she went to the back doors to show Nessa some little birds that were hopping along the grass pecking at insects. Nessa was gabbling away happily.

I told Bella I wanted to keep my appointment with her mother and she asked if her and Nessa could go too.

"We can go out, can't we?" she asked, suddenly looking worried.

"Of course we can. I haven't wanted to ask you because you've been so…"I trailed off, not knowing what to say. "I thought you were happiest at the cottage, so I haven't asked if you wanted to go out with her, with me." I told her truthfully.

"This has been a lot harder than it ever should have been." She said glumly. "Will you take us to my parents house today Edward, please? I'd like to go with you."

I leaned over and kissed her at the corner of her mouth, "Yes, of course I will." I told her happily.

**BPOV**

It took some doing putting Nessa into her car seat. None of us had ever done it before. You'd think with three grown vampires and one recently human woman we'd be able to work it out in quick time, but no.

Esme had held Nessa patiently while Edward drove the Guardian out of the garage and into the driveway. Rose had fitted the car seat soon after we announced I was expecting but none of us had bothered to learn how to use the bloody thing.

It looked innocuous enough. Just a high-sided seat with crisscrossing straps. How hard could it be?

Well, I'll tell you.

I had Nessa in my arms as we'd left the porch so it was me who slid her into the little seat. No problem there. She sat upright in it and I expected to just clip her into it. There were six straps however, giving an endless amount of possible combinations those six straps could be done up in, it did my head in!

When Nessa whimpered because I'd pulled a strap across her too tightly I gave up and asked Edward to have a turn.

He did better than I had. He managed to get a pair of straps clipped into the buckle once he'd bought them over her shoulders, but that left four more and one pair of those was joined by a metal clip that didn't seem to fit anywhere at all on the seat!

Esme took Nessa out of the car and held on to her as we tried every possible combination without poor Nessa having to sit through it. When we had what we thought was a good idea of how it worked we put her back into the seat.

Edward crowed in victory when we finally had a pair of straps over her shoulders and another pair that came up between her legs and all four of them clipped into the slots on the main metal holder.

That only left the pair of straps that were already clipped together.

A half an hour later, and two quite heated arguments held some distance away so the baby couldn't hear us, we gave up in frustration and called Rose.

She laughed her ass off, predictably, and told Edward that the long strap went over the top of the car seat and clipped into a safety bracket that was fitted on the back parcel tray of the car. It was used to secure the seat, not the baby, to the car.

He looked pleased when it was all sorted but I knew he was pissed he'd had to resort to calling Rose. I didn't much care as long as Nessa was secure and we were finally driving towards my parents house.

Esme followed in her little Audi and we all arrived together.

My mother was so excited that we'd all come that she nearly feinted in the driveway when she spotted Nessa tucked into her little seat. She nearly dived into the car to get at the little girl.

Nessa seemed just as happy to see Renee, I noticed. Her little fists were already clenching and unclenching as her grandmother pulled her from the car and took her inside.

I looked around as I walked up to the front door of my former home. It smelled the same and looked the same but it didn't feel the same. It felt like Charlie and Renee's house now, not mine.

All of a sudden I was overtaken by a panicked thought and I clutched for Edward, who was beside me on the threshold of the house. "Edward. What if we're seen? What will people think if they see us with a baby?" I asked.

He seemed to think on it for a while and then he grinned, "I guess they'll think I'm the luckiest bastard alive and I knocked you up." And with that he kissed me soundly on the mouth and went into the house.

Esme was still giggling lightly as we came into the house and I threw her a playful scowl. "It's not funny. Humans won't be able to work it out Edward, they'll start asking questions surely?" I whined.

"So what?" He said casually as he accepted the chair Renee proffered. "It won't hurt you if she bites that Renee." He said idly and I looked to where Renee sat with Nessa in her lap, her thumb in Nessa's mouth. "I don't care if someone sees us with a baby Bella. They won't be able to work anything out. She looks completely human and there is no way they'll think she's ours. You were at school only two months ago, you definitely didn't look pregnant then, so to them it just won't be possible. They'll assume what they want to assume and I just don't really care." He smiled smugly and turned his attention back to the baby, who was gnawing on her grandmothers bangle now. "You really are a savage Nessa." He teased her playfully.

I raised my eyebrows at him but said nothing more about it. If he wasn't worried I wasn't going to be either. "So, mom, what have I missed around here?" I asked looking around the room.

"Not much." She giggled. "Your dad has just been working and I've spent nearly all my time at the daycare centre while the workmen do their thing." She told me. "What have I missed at your house?" She asked in return.

I laughed darkly, "A lot mom, a lot." I looked to Edward who smiled. "But everything's great, Nessa is great and so are we. We thought we'd come and visit for a bit and Esme said she needed to see you about some things for the christening, so here we are."

"Why do I not like the sound of that laugh Bell's?" She narrowed her eyes at me as though she could read me like the book that I was. "What aren't you telling me?" She asked.

I laughed again, knowing I was a terrible liar. "Well, when you left on Sunday things weren't exactly sweet were they?" I asked and she nodded, "Well, everything came to a head yesterday but it's all sorted out now."

"Good. Does that mean you're staying here?" She asked me but looked to Edward too.

"We are." He answered for us both. "And Seth is too." He said it as though that was an end to it, which I guess, as far as my parents were concerned, it was.

"Good to hear. So you two can go about your business now. Esme and I will take care of Nessa for a bit, you two go and do what you need to do." She smiled at us but it was obvious we'd been dismissed. The two grandmothers had plans to 'play' today and we weren't part of those plans.

Edward chuckled and stood. "Come Bella, I think it's safe to say we are no longer required here." He held his hand out for me and I took it, though I wasn't too happy about leaving without my daughter. He took one look at my face and knew, instantly, what I was thinking. "She'll be fine Bella. She's fed, she's happy and she won't sleep for hours yet. Let them have their fun. Come on, let's go and see Sue and Harry." He tugged on my hand a little.

"Okay, if you're sure?" I looked to Esme then my mother and then to Edward. They were all smiling and they were all nodding. "Okay then." I huffed. I leant down and kissed Nessa's hair and told her I loved her and I'd see her soon.

Edward did the same and added 'no biting you little savage' to the end. Nessa giggled, which set my mother into fits of delight that was our cue to leave. Letting Esme and Renee discover for themselves Nessa's new talent for laughter.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you've found something of interest in this chapter please review and let me know. By the same token, if you've found something that does your head in, please review and let me know ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 - Fight Club Therapy

8.

**EPOV**

The relief on Sue Clearwater's face as Bella and I relayed for her the outcome of last night's discussions was apparent the instant Bella announced that Seth was welcome to spend time with Nessa.

"Oh thank you, thank you so much." Sue bellowed as she rushed to give Bella a hug. At the very last second she realized she was about to hug a newborn vampire and pulled back. "Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking." She grimaced.

I looked at Bella to see if she was in good control and she was smiling warmly at the older woman. It was up to Bella but I wanted her to know I was there if she needed me. "Bella?" I asked tentatively.

She gave me a smile and then enveloped Sue into a tight hug. The human woman was shocked but happy to receive it. "You don't need to thank me Sue. I was wrong, I can admit that now. I won't keep them apart again."

Sue sat back down into her worn kitchen chair and sighed heavily. "When he asked me to ring my sister and ask if he could go there I was so upset. Even Sam tried to talk him out of it, asked him to be patient, but he was already sick by then." She said with sad eyes.

"We'd like to sit down with you and Harry at some point and talk about what this all means for Seth. But right now we just wanted to let you know that we'll be staying in the area indefinitely and that Seth is welcome with us anytime he wishes." I told her. "We've sent him off to school today and he's had a little sleep and some food this morning, but he's going to need some care over the next few days."

Sue's eyes began to well up again and her thoughts switched to how obvious it was that we cared for her son. "I'll fatten him up good." She whispered, swiping at her eyes in exactly the same way Seth does when he's trying to be brave. "You are good people, my Seth is lucky to have you."

I smiled proudly, that meant a lot to me, coming from someone as highly respected as Sue. "Thank you Sue, we are, of course, lucky to have Seth. Our Renesmee is quite taken with him already." I told her but kept my eyes on Bella as I said it. She'd retreated slightly to the rear of the room, by the backdoor that led off the tiny kitchen and into the backyard. The door itself was open, only the fly wire insert was closed, so Bella had a steady stream of fresh air to sniff.

"Such a pretty name. Renee tells me she's real sweet. I'm looking forward to meeting her. Seth tells me she's real smart and has a gift too." She smiled.

"We'll bring her down soon Sue, Sam and the others have met her of course, but we'll bring her down here very soon." I promised. She got up from her chair and started the kettle to boil. As was usual with humans she began to wonder if she should offer us a beverage. "That's kind, but not necessary Sue." I chuckled.

Her eyebrows lifted when she realized I'd heard her errant thought, "Oh, I knew you could do that, but it's real odd when it happens." She laughed.

Bella looked distant, thoughtful, as she stared out of the door. "Bella, love, are you alright?" I asked her, holding out my hand towards her.

She smiled and took my hand. "Yes, of course. I was just wondering how to go about this. I don't want Seth to think he can just drop everything and spend every waking moment with Nessa." She looked to Sue whose face took on a look of concentration. She too was wondering how to keep Seth on the straight and narrow during all this change.

"I think we all want the same thing." I said to them both. "Seth needs to finish his schooling and Nessa needs the time to grow, so for now those will be the priorities. I don't want to tell you how to parent your own boy Sue," I chuckled and she nodded and waved a hand, her thoughts telling me to go right ahead, "Can I suggest we leave it up to him for now? Place the responsibility onto his own shoulders? You know Bella has pledged the money for his education, but he doesn't, so let's put it to him how important his education is and that the time he can spend with Nessa is dependant on it?"

Bella looked at me carefully then said, "I get it. Sort of reward his hard work with more time, sort of thing?" She asked me and then looked to Sue who was nodding.

"I like it. He's always been a good boy, always worked hard, but he wants to be a doctor, so he's going to have to work harder. I'd hate for that to be pushed aside because of the imprint." She agreed. "Can I talk to Harry before we say anything to Seth, maybe Sam too, he's real good about this stuff. Keeping the bigger boys in line sort of thing."

I smiled, I liked that even better than before. Keeping Sam in the loop would strengthen the ties between the two groups and it would also make Seth respect the situation a little more if the pack leaders backed it too. I wasn't expecting too much resistance from Seth. He'd had a taste of what it was like without Nessa, he wouldn't do anything to risk going through that again. "Excellent Sue, that's a great idea. We'll be meeting with Sam ourselves in the next few days and I'm sure we'll be talking to you again soon."

Sue stood, knowing we were about to take our leave, and as we went into the hallway and back to the front door she turned to face Bella, "It will be all right, won't it, Seth up there with you vampires?" She asked it very cautiously, taking her time to pronounce the word carefully, not wanting to insult or upset us.

Bella's radiant smile made my heart leap. "Yes of course Sue, Seth's family. We'll take good care of him, we promise, don't we Edward?"

"Of course." I agreed. I waited until we'd stepped back outside the home before I spoke again, conscious of Bella's whereabouts and her ability to withdraw if she needed to, without causing alarm or damage. "Sue, in a few short years your son is going to be my son-in-law. We'll take as good care of him as you would." I nodded at her to make sure she heard and understood me.

Understanding dawned on her face and her eyes shot to Bella at the same time mine did. Bella stood very still, her head inclined towards me with her mouth open. We stood in silence for half a minute and then Bella reached for my hand, I gave it to her gladly and she clutched at it with trembling fingers. I squeezed hers softly, an act of support and encouragement and slowly her shivers subsided. "Sue, he's family, we love him and we'll take good care of him." She whispered.

My beautiful, brave wife had put voice to it without missing a beat. I knew she believed it, I knew she wouldn't say it if she didn't.

Everything was going to be okay.

**BPOV**

Nessa was asleep when we got back from the Rez and even though I knew my mother would like more time with her, we took her home with us. Back to the big house to await her aunts and uncles as they returned from school and work.

I desperately wanted some time alone with both the baby and Edward. So much had happened in the past twenty-four hours and I still felt as though there was so much to say, and do.

We sat side-by-side on the sofa in the living room and watched our daughter sleep. We couldn't take her upstairs to her crib because Emmett was still working in her room, but it was nice to just sit in the quiet and watch her.

Her dreams were becoming more vivid, more colorful as they days went by.

More faces began to make an appearance too. Renee featured heavily today, probably because Nessa had spent a good portion of her day there with her today.

Her afternoon nap was shorter because we'd disturbed it by strapping her into her car seat once again – this time with more success much earlier – so by the time school had let out she was already awake and ready for some play time.

Edward assured me she wasn't thirsty so when Seth, Alice and Jasper arrived home we left them with her and headed up to our suite to see Emmett's progress.

The dust covers didn't surprise us this time, we were ready for the sight of the mess. He'd done a wonderful job though, the nursery was really rather beautiful. He'd chosen a big window so there was lots of natural light and the walls were already painted the palest pink. Darker pink highlights around the doorframe and the closet trim looked lovely in the fading afternoon light.

"What do you think?" He asked me as I stepped into the room.

"I love it, she will too. It's great Em." I told him and got myself a lovely wide smile in return. Dimples and all!

"Give me another two days and she'll be right to go. Alice wants Saturday to put all her things in here and by then this paint smell will be gone." He told us as we looked in the cupboards and drawers he'd installed.

"You've done a fantastic job Em, I really appreciate it." Edward told him and accentuated his sincerity with the, by now obligatory, fist bump. "I was wondering though, if you could give us a minute?" He asked politely.

Emmett looked at Edward, then at me, then he smiled. "Sure, you gonna christen it then?" He asked with an evil roll of his eyes and raise of his eyebrows. He looked like some sort of mad sorcerer. I missed my blush.

Edward chuckled, "No, nothing like that, I just need a word with my wife, alone. We could run home for a bit if you're not done for the day?" He asked very accommodatingly.

"Nope, you're all good. Rosie will be home in a minute and I want to clean up so I'll be allowed to touch the munchkin." He cackled, holding his paint covered hands out to show us his pink tinged fingernails. "Maybe Alice will like it." He mumbled to himself.

We waited patiently, out in our actual room, for him to put his tools away and to reseal the paint tins and then we were finally alone.

I wanted to throw Edward onto the bed and have my way with him, but I knew he only wanted to talk. I did too, but my need for him was much stronger than my desire to sort through our issues verbally.

The last sounds of Emmett thumping down the stairs echoed up the hallway and then the whole third floor was once again ours. I looked around the room and wondered where we should sit, if we should sit.

Edward took my hand in his and led me to the bed and sat me down on the end of it. I thought he was going to sit beside me, but he knelt down at my feet instead. He put his hands flat on my knees and squeezed. "I know how hard all of this has been on you, but I want you to know how very proud of you I am. I love you Bella, forever." He whispered and lowered his head onto the backs of his hands so he was effectively in my lap.

I ran my hands through his beautiful hair and felt him purr against my thighs. "I love you forever too, Edward." He shifted slightly so his cheek was resting on his hands and I increased the pressure of my fingers as they ran through his soft tresses. He began to moan softly. "Do you like that?" I asked.

"Hmm mm." He murmured. "I've missed you." He whispered.

I smiled. So it wasn't just me who was looking forward to being at home, on our own, once the sun had gone down? "I've missed you too." I giggled quietly. "There seems like there is still so much to say." I said, changing tack.

"I feel the same," he mumbled against my leg, "There feels like there is so much I want to explain to you, to tell you how it was for me when you were little. I don't want any of it to come as a surprise for you again, I want to make the whole process as easy for you as possible." He swallowed thickly and continued, "It will have to wait though, love, these walls have ears." He chuckled.

I giggled in agreement. I'd had an idea while I was standing in the little kitchen at the Clearwater's, I wondered if now was the right time to bring it up. I had nothing to lose. "Edward, do you remember the first rule of Fight Club?" I giggled.

His low, rumbling laugh sent shivers up my thighs and into my body in such a delicious way I almost forgot what I wanted to talk about. "Never talk about Fight Club." He laughed, "Are you suggesting we go to the cabin for a few days my love?" He asked.

I twisted his hair in my fingers and tugged gently, "Beautiful and perceptive, what a killer combination." I laughed. "Do you think we can take Nessa to the cabin, maybe overnight, just to have her all to ourselves for a couple of days, get to know her properly? It sounds selfish, I know, and it's the direct opposite of what I've just promised Seth, but we've been so rushed and everything has been so tense."

"I'll call now, make the booking. It's a great idea Bella, it really is. Don't feel bad for wanting time alone with your own family, love. If I can get the cabin why don't we go tomorrow, Seth has school anyway so he'd really only be missing out on a brief visit before his dinner. If we went on the weekend he'd be missing the whole day." He suggested.

It was Thursday today, so if we went to the cabin early tomorrow morning we could be back mid afternoon Saturday and Seth could still spend some time with Nessa before she went to sleep that night. Nobody would really be put out and we'd look a lot less selfish, he was right. "Please call Edward."

He leapt to his feet, pushed me back onto the mattress and kissed me thoroughly. "I love you so much, it's a great idea." And then he went off to make the call.

There had been a few protestations at our plan to escape overnight, but Edward insisting that Nessa was ours and that if we felt like we needed a few days peace then we'd have it had quelled them. They'd either deal with it, or not. It seemed Edward didn't care, so I didn't let myself care either.

The cabin was just as I'd remembered it, of course. The only difference this visit was that we had our daughter with us. She looked around, wide-eyed, at her new surroundings from her spot on the high bed.

She was probably still tired, we'd had to take her out of her bed so early in the morning to get here so we wouldn't waste the best part of the day. It was sunny but the national park was mostly empty, so we wanted to take advantage of the solitude and take our daughter swimming to the lake. Our lake. Our cabin.

The night before had been the longest of my life, my new life, so far.

Edward had decided – there was no way this idiotic scheme had come from my lips – that he'd stay at the house, in our suite, and I should take Nessa home to the cottage. He mumbled something about making sure I remembered how good it felt to be together again after a separation the few days prior to our wedding, and seeing as it had been 36 hours since we'd last touched, even innocently, he figured a few more hours would only heighten our desire.

I'd told him, none too politely once we were alone in the forest hunting, what a stupid idea I thought it was. I'd tried everything, short of using my newborn strength to throw him to the ground and use his body for my own pleasure regardless of his protesting.

So now that we were in the actual cabin my mind began to wander back to our last visit here. I knew the tub was in there, taunting me with its presence. Edward gave the bathroom a few surreptitious glances too, so I knew we were on the same page.

It was different though, being here with our child. I knew it would be a much different evening than the last one we'd shared here, but I was looking forward to it just as much as I had back then.

**EPOV**

If Bella glanced in the direction of the bathroom with that sly grin on her face once more I was going to drag her in there and bend her over the edge of the tub!

"Would you like to come to the lake little one? You'll love it there, its magical." Bella crooned to Nessa as she scooped her up into her arms from the bed.

"It is magical." I agreed, thinking back to when I'd taken Bella there on the bike that first time. I shivered at the thought of her naked human body and the effect it had had on me in the warm water of the lake.

Bella was staring at me intently. She grinned again but turned back to the baby quite quickly. I knew she was having as many lascivious thoughts about me as I was having about her. Our separation last night had seen to that! I'd hated being without her, and I knew at the time that it was going to be as painful as it had been the days before we were wed, but at the same time I knew it was the right thing to do, as I had known it then.

The sun had risen in the sky to its full height, and was quite warm, by the time we made it to the lake. The surface shimmered silver and Nessa stared at it in wonder.

'_It's pretty, daddy.' _She thought as I held her aloft so she could see clear across the water.

"It is, very pretty." I agreed, "But not as pretty as my two best girls in this sunlight." I turned her to face her mother and watched her face light up as Bella's alabaster skin sparkled and threw the light off it.

'_Pretty momma.' _Nessa thought and began to clutch her tiny fists in Bella's direction.

I handed her to Bella and began to undress. We wouldn't go in naked this time, I had swimming shorts on, but it wouldn't matter, Bella would be able to tell how pleased I was to be in the water with her soon enough.

Once I was down to my shorts and Bella had stripped Nessa naked – Alice said she hadn't foreseen us needing swimming things for a newborn baby – Bella handed Nessa back to me and began to disrobe herself.

I held Nessa high in my arms because I was hardening incrementally the more flesh Bella exposed to the sunlight. Her swimmers were modest, given that Alice had bought them this was a feat in itself, but it had been so long since I'd seen her, or touched her for that matter, I was powerless to resist the sight of her.

With a soft giggle and a head bob towards the water Bella was off and running. Then she launched herself into the warm depths. She emerged twenty feet out into the middle of the lake with a huge smile on her face. I knew what was coming before she spoke.

"Come in Edward, it really is warm, honest." She crowed as I had the first time we'd been here.

I looked down at the tiny baby in my arms and smiled. "Would you like to swim with momma and me little one?" I asked her.

'_Like in the big tub?'_ she asked and I chuckled at her reasoning.

"Yes, my beauty, like in the big tub at home, but this one is even bigger, isn't it?" I laughed down at her and made my way to the edge of the water.

Despite the cold air surrounding us the lake was still warm to the touch. It would be a good test for ness, for us to find out if the extremes of human temperature tolerance would be an issue for her. As I slowly moved us out deeper into he lake Nessa began to giggle, her high-pitched twitter very reminiscent of Alice'. By the time I was waist deep she was flailing her arms out and splashing happily, as she did in our bathroom.

Bella swam back towards us and Nessa clutched her hands outwards for her mother. I deposited her into Bella's arms and then dived in under the surface myself.

When I resurfaced, halfway across the lake, Nessa was giggling and Bella was shrieking, "Where is that tricky daddy, Ness?" I threw them a little wave. "There he is, look there Nessa. Do you see him, little one? What a tricky daddy he is. Let's call him, shall we?" She looked down at the little girl in her arms and smiled, and then she called for me. "Daddy, daddy, come back here naughty daddy."

The sound of their mixed laughter filled my ears as I dived back under the water and made my way back to where Bella stood. I slid my hands from Bella's ankles to her waist as I came back to the surface, a huge grin plastered on my face. Nessa was smiling widely, her cheeks flushed and her little hands flailing in my direction. I scooped her out of her mothers arms and matched her smile. .

"Hello there my little beauty. Do you like the water?" I asked her.

'_Big tub daddy.'_ She giggled in her thoughts.

"She says it's like the big tub." I told Bella, "She likes it."

"Of course she does, she's a water baby, aren't you?" Bella crooned, running her hand over the baby's hair to smooth it down.

"Do you think you can hold onto daddy while I swim Nessa?" I asked. "Let's have a practice." I shifted her in my arms so she was facing away from me and then I swung her around so she was perched high on my shoulders. I pulled her tiny arms around my neck and asked her to hold her fingers together as tightly as she could.

'_Okay daddy.'_ She told me.

Bella looked worried. "Are you sure about this Edward?" She asked me, her eyebrows knitted together.

"Swim beside me, you'll catch her in a tenth of a second love." I soothed her. "I won't go under and I'll swim slowly till we're sure she can hang on."

Bella didn't look too taken with the idea but she didn't tell me I was an idiot to try it either. So, with my eight-day-old daughter clinging to my back like a spider monkey I laid on the surface of the Crescent Lake and began to paddle out from the shore.

Nessa held on tightly, her grip never faltering despite her giggling and obvious pleasure as we slid through the water.

Bella swam beside us, poised to rescue our baby should she slip or let her laced fingers go and slide into the water on her own. But she never did. I swam like that with her for hours, loving the joy it bought to us all. Bella backed off after a little while, once we were both sure that the little girl wouldn't let go and that the temperature of the water, coupled with the cooling air, was doing her no harm.

"Do you like that, little one?" I asked her at regular intervals. The answer was always the same.

'_Faster daddy.'_ She'd squeal in her little pealing mental voice, and I would oblige and speed up.

By the time the sun was setting, and Nessa began to get sleepy, I was swimming almost at full speed across the top of the water. It was harder to do than swimming underneath it, but we had a good head of steam going before too long. Bella had a turn but was too nervous to continue for long, so it became Nessa and my game. To go faster while being admonished by her mother. Bella would grumble good-naturedly when I sped up, Nessa would giggle whenever Bella growled at me to slow down. She would tell me 'faster daddy' a split second after I'd promise Bella to go slower.

I would then relay Nessa's request for more speed to her mother who would squint her eyes and playfully wag a finger at us and say we were both very naughty, which would bring forth Nessa's giggles once again. Round and round this game would go. I'd swim faster, we'd get in 'trouble' and my beautiful girls spent hours laughing and giggling.

**BPOV**

They were so beautiful, playing in the water together. Their hair shimmered in the sun, the copper much darker once it was wet. Edward's sin threw diamond glints all around him as he slid gracefully through the water. Nessa's skin – whilst nowhere near as sparkly as ours, but no less beautiful – shimmered like a gentler version of her fathers.

Her little teeth were visible for hours as she laughed and played with her daddy. The tender way he spoke to her, almost reverently, as though she were a celestial being, took my breath away. He was so very careful with her, even as he sped faster and faster through the water, I could tell his movements were tempered to take her into consideration. He was playful but careful. Always careful with her.

He swam back towards shore and told me she was getting tired, so I got out and gathered one of the huge towels we'd bought with us from the cabin. I wrapped the tiny baby into it and began to dry her off. I couldn't concentrate though when Edward himself emerged from the lake, his skin shining brighter than any star ever could. The line of his hipbones as they dipped into his swimming shorts drew a soft moan from my lips before I could strangle it back.

He smirked down at me, dropped a kiss on my cheek and reached for a towel.

"Later." He whispered and then set about drying himself.

I blew out a long, slow breath and tried to keep my mind on the job of drying and dressing Nessa, which wasn't easy.

It was full dark when we got back to the cabin and Nessa was nearly spent. Edward asked if she was thirsty but she said she was not. We'd bought a couple of pouches of blood with us and we knew she'd need one in the morning, but her thirst didn't seem to rule her as mine did.

Though I'd only hunted the night before the thought of the blood in the tiny refrigerator set my throat to burning the instant I had the thought. So while Edward bathed and dressed Nessa in her little sleep suit I hunted. It was odd hunting without him at my side. I'd come to enjoy sharing with him in close proximity. Plus, our shared hunt usually ended in some ruined clothing and two very smug, self-satisfied vampires returning to the house.

Nessa was sleeping soundly by the time I returned from my meal and was lying in the centre of the big bed with her father looking down upon her lovingly. I wasn't sure what was more beautiful, the man or the baby. It was a close call and I was grateful neither of them could read my thoughts so I didn't have to choose.

I ran a hand over her curls and then over Edward's own copper mess. "She'll sleep for hours now Edward, com on." I told him and watched as his eyes darkened when he understood what I meant and what I wanted.

I thought we'd have to wait for the tub to fill but when I went into the bathroom it was full to the brim, bubbles covering the surface.

"Candles Edward?" I asked, pulling him to me and kicking the door shut with my toes. I pulled his face towards mine and planted a firm kiss on his jaw. "And the lights are low, just they way I like." I said with another kiss, this time to his cheek. He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath when I swiped my lips across the shell of his ear and whispered, "How did the tub get full Edward? If I didn't know better I'd say you were expecting something from me." I giggled wantonly into his ear and felt him shudder against me. "What did you bring me in here to do to me Edward?" I teased, nipping at his neck with my teeth.

He put his big hands on my hips and pulled me flush up against his chest and crushed his lips down onto mine with such force I almost buckled at the knees. Using his nails he slit my jersey from my armpit to waist, the material tearing easily and filling the room with the ripping noise. He slid his hand under and cupped my breast, tweaking the nipple between his thumb and forefinger. He let my lips go with a loud sucking noise and grinned down at me, "I bought you in here to fuck you, Bella." He growled.

A little 'oh' sound escaped my lips but I didn't remember forming the sound in my brain, it just came out as he spoke. When I looked back to his eyes they were gleaming with self-satisfaction. He looked so smug, so confident, so fucking delicious!

I got up onto my toes and put my tongue back into his mouth, missing the feel and taste of him although it had only been half a moment since we were last joined there. He purred into my mouth when I bit down on his tongue softly. As he kissed me on and on I pulled his shirt free of his waistband and let my hands roam his chest and abs. He sucked in a deep breath when my fingernails stroked the angular lines of his hipbones.

Pulling away from me slightly he pulled my shirt off over my head and threw it to the floor. My bra was gone in seconds, his nails easily snapping through the thin fabric that held it together between my breasts. Before it hit the floor fully his mouth was clamped over my left nipple, his finger and thumb tracing the lettering of my tattoo. He wrapped his free hand around my waist and held me up against him, tilted right back. My hair touching the doorframe.

Then, letting my tattoo go he slid his hand down over my hip, across my ass and down the back of my leg, hooking under my knee and pulling it up over his own hip, effectively tethering me to his straining erection.

"Oh god Edward, I need you so badly." I whimpered as his teeth closed over my hard nipple.

He let it go with an extra hard pinch of his teeth to keep me going and looked up at me through his impossibly long lashes. "You have no fucking idea how badly I need you Isabella." He growled and lowered his lips once again to my nipple. Taking it back between his teeth he held it firmly and then looked up at me, his lips turning into a wicked smirk around my puckered flesh. He let it go again and stood me back up straight. "Get your clothes off Bella. I'll have you now." He said, not asking, tell me what his intentions were.

My knickers immediately flooded with my desire and he flared his nostrils when the scent hit him. He licked his lips as though he was already enjoying my taste, I closed my eyes with the anticipation of that.

I shed my jeans in record time and they joined my t-shirt and bra on the floor, followed closely by my sopping wet panties.

**EPOV**

She was so wet I could taste her in the air before she even had her jeans to her knees!

I almost lost my self-control and threw her to the floor when she stood in front of me totally naked, chewing on her swollen bottom lip.

I got out of my jeans as fast as I could and threw my boxers into the growing pile on the floor. I let my hand stray idly to my rock hard cock and gave it one or two tight fisted strokes, loving the way she drew in her breath over her teeth and stared at my length as I did it.

I'd been away from her for so long now that I was almost unable to hold back, my lust was gnawing at my gut and I was leaking so much it probably looked like I'd already cum in my pants.

I took the two paces that separated us, slowly stalking her across the bathroom. Just as I was about to let my fingers touch her waist, to pull her to me, I looked her in the eye and growled, "This is not going to be soft and gentle Bella, you're mine, and I intend to have you as I wish." And then I did pull her up to me and I was rewarded with another massive flood of her aroused scent as my words penetrated her brain.

I held her as I had before, a hand around her waist, her head tipped back towards the doorframe. With her nipple firmly between my teeth again I parted her slick folds and slid two fingers inside her with my free hand. She jumped then moaned loudly. Good girl, I thought. She clung to my back, raking her nails across my flesh, raising goose pimples as she did. I was so fucking hard it hurt to press up against her as I was, but I did it anyway, desperate for any friction I could gain. Her hipbone dug into me savagely but still I pushed harder as I stroked her with my fingers from the inside.

"So good…so good." She began to pant in unison with my strokes, her fingers clawing at me as I worked her mercilessly. "So close…need you…so close." She whimpered.

When I felt her begin to tense, before she'd even fully recognized how close she was to her climax herself, I withdrew my fingers, leaving her on the edge of her release. Her eyes widened in shock when she realized I'd _meant_ to stop. I let her nipple go and used my arm to stand her upright. "You'll cum with me, not before." I told her firmly, making her gasp.

"Yes." She agreed. Her eyes were wide, her hair wild and she was breathing heavily.

"You're so beautiful." I told her, taking her hand and guiding her to the vanity unit. I was determined to have her exactly as I wanted her. Panting, breathless, completely at my mercy. I wanted to dominate her, show her that she was mine and I was hers. I stood with her, her back to my chest, and looked at her up and down in the mirror. I cupped her right breast with my hand and watched my own fingers tease her nipple into a puckered, peaked mound. "Gorgeous." I told her, bending a little to kiss at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. She closed her eyes but I wanted her to see. "Open your eyes, watch me loving you." I demanded with a rough voice.

Her eyes flew open, her tongue whipped across her lower lip and then she lowered her eyes and watched intently as I rolled her pink bud through my fingers. "Look at your tattoo, how raised it is. Don't take your eyes away." I reminded her as I lowered my lips once again to her neck. I inched my free hand down from her waist and into her curls, I let my teeth graze the soft flesh of her shoulder and felt her shudder.

She leaned back against me, pushing at me with her ass. I ground myself into her unashamedly. There was no point being coy, we were as desperate for each other as we could possibly be. She was my wife, I wanted her, and it was a simple equation.

I took care to find her clit at the same time that I bit down on her shoulder hard. She bucked and writhed as I pinched her swollen bundle of nerves. Every move she made resonated against my aching prick, pushed hard up against her lower back. The cleft of her ass cradled me perfectly and I was able to slide, minutely, up and down as she moved against the heel of my hand.

I found her ear with my tongue and traced its gentle curve, winning me a deep sigh from her mouth and a clutch of her fingers around my hip as she reached backwards.

I slid my fingers lower and gathered some of her wetness. I dragged it back up through her lips and circled her clit with it. She smelled delicious and I knew from experience that her taste was out of this world. I knew she was still watching, I'd felt her head dip slightly when my hand had trailed lower. I didn't need to check, but I wanted her to know what the consequences would be if she closed her eyes. I hoped her desire would heighten still further if I were stern and demanding of her. I didn't want to be rough, as such. I wanted to direct this. I wanted to drag out her pleasure, make her search for it. "Are you watching Isabella?" She nodded slightly. "Can you see my wet fingers?" I asked. "Answer me." I demanded when she merely nodded.

"Yes Edward. God yes. I see them." She rasped, breathless.

I peppered her neck and shoulders with wet kisses while she circled her hips in order to get more from my probing fingers. I knew she was close, I knew she needed more, I knew she needed the release. I knew it was far more than want, it was need. I needed it too.

I slid two fingers into her and then withdrew them instantly, making her gasp in shock. I lifted my eyes back to the mirror and then I put those two wet fingers into my mouth, sucking hungrily at her exquisite flavour. Her eyes were so black they were startling, no hint or trace of the crimson was apparent now. Her lids were half closed and heavy, her head leaning back against my throat now. Her mouth was slack and hanging slightly open. Her nostrils were flared as she took in unnecessary – but now also completely involuntary – lungs full of air.

She watched intently as I licked my fingers clean. "You taste divine. So sweet." I told her. I slid the same two fingers back down between her breasts, through her curls and back inside her. She bit down on her lip and moaned heavily as I ground the heel of my hand against her clit. "I can't wait to feel you clench around me Bella." I teased her. "Do you want that? Do you want to cum with me inside you?"

She fought the need to close her eyes but it wasn't easy. I could see the strain on her face as she reined in her control. "I need you inside me." She whimpered, pressing herself into my hand and back into my erection.

I let my fingers slide out of her and then I raised them to her lips. "Taste." I demanded, but I needn't have bothered. She had her tongue wrapped around my fingers before I'd opened my mouth to ask. This time she did close her eyes as she sucked my fingers clean. "Fuck." I growled, "Do you like that? Do you like to taste yourself from my skin?"

She pushed my fingers out of her mouth with her tongue, a smug smile spreading across her swollen lips. "I love it." She told me, her eyes boring into mine. Turning her head slightly she found my lips. She flicked her tongue across my bottom lip and now I could taste her salty essence not only from her tongue but also from my own lips.

It was too much.

I forced her away from me impatiently and turned my head so I could see her in the mirror. "Watch." I hissed. She returned her eyes to the mirror, this time she was smiling.

I put a hand on each of her hips and held her steady. Using my toes I kicked her ankles, forcing her to spread her legs, a loud gasp escaping from her swollen ruby lips. Now it was me smiling smugly at her in the mirror.

I let one hip go and wound a good handful of her hair around my wrist, pulling her head back firmly. The curve of her back leant itself to my position behind her, her glorious ass round and firm. I positioned myself at her entrance and clutched her other hip roughly with my fingers, digging them into her flesh so she knew I was in charge of this. With one last smug grin to myself, a last look into her eyes, I growled over her shoulder and into her ear, "If you take your eyes off that mirror I won't let you cum. Don't defy me Isabella. You're mine."

And with that I forced myself into her tight, wet hole.

Instantly her thoughts were mine to hear. _'Oh my god…oh my god…oh my god..." She chanted. _

'Mine' I hissed in my thoughts by way of reply. 'You're mine, all mine.' I told her.

'_I'm yours Edward…I'm yours…please…please…you have to let me…please.'_ She begged and I was totally rattled by it.

To hear her beg me to let her cum, I had to close my eyes and concentrate on not letting go, not giving in to the craving to just cum inside her instantly.

I took half a second to steady myself and then I began to stroke her, sliding my free hand from her waist to her shoulder, bracing myself, using it as leverage while I pumped slowly in and out of her. The sound of her wetness around me, the soft slapping of her thighs as they hit mine with each stroke. The smell of our combined arousal in the air, her heady taste still clinging to my soft palate from when I'd licked it off my fingers. It was as torturous as it was heavenly.

She put her hands, at her own shoulder width, onto the vanity top. She never took her eyes from the mirror. She stared at me the whole time I thrust into her, moaning and grunting as I did. I felt strong, powerful, as though I owned her and was the sole owner of her pleasure along with it. If she achieved orgasm I would have given it to her, she wouldn't take it from me, I wanted her to know that if she came it was because of me.

'Do you want to cum for me Bella…are you ready to cum…keep watching Bella…don't make me deny you.' I told her, never faltering in my ministrations.

I pumped as hard as I could, no longer needing to worry about her fragility. I pulled her hair harder and made her strain against me to see us in the mirror. She was desperate to keep her eyes on it so I wouldn't deny her her pleasure, she was giving me everything I asked of her and I was so worked up I was going to cum right along with her.

I let her hair go and she snapped her head upright, her eyes flashing in the mirror as she watched me loving her.

I curled a hand around and gripped her belly, pulling her backwards, making me plunge deeper and deeper inside her with each stroke.

She clutched onto the vanity, digging her nails into its surface. I could see the strain on her face as she reached for her release.

'_Please Edward…I'm begging…I need it…there, yes, there…a little…oh…oh god…please…' _She was begging again, begging me, her husband, to let her cum as only I could make her.

'Yes Bella…you cum with me…when I say, you let to go for me…not before…" I warned and shifted my legs further apart, coming up at her at the angle I knew would tip her over the edge.

She threw her head back, dragging her eyes from the mirror, but it was too late for me to chastise her for it. I couldn't deny her the climax now because my own was also upon me.

'Now Bella…you cum for me now…now…cum with me…now…' I raged in my mind towards her as my orgasm ripped through my gut and spilled out of me and into her in hot, fast bursts. It felt like my skin was on fire, rippling and churning with the white-hot pleasure of my release. She surrounded me, her scent, her taste, the feel of her hot, tight little body spasming around my cock as our twin climaxes burst out of us in unison.

'_Oh yes…yes…Edward…Edward…yes…love you…only…you…mine…mine…' _She screamed in her head, letting her intense orgasm consume her.

'Mine Bella…this is mine…you are mine…love you…only you…only mine…' I agreed, still rocking myself in and out of her lazily, milking the last of my pleasure, letting her ride hers out with me still inside her.

When she let her forehead come to rest on the vanity unit I allowed myself to collapse onto her bare back. I kissed her shoulder tenderly and stroked her belly with my fingertips. "I love you Isabella." I told her in a sobbed whisper. It was all the sound I was capable of.

She raised her head, her eyes meeting mine once again in the mirror. A lovely, wicked smirk came across her face and lips, "As I love you Edward."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. I hope you've found something to enjoy from this chapter ;) Please review and let me know if you have, and even if you haven't, please review. I am interested to hear what you think no matter your motivations. **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 - Angel

9.

**BPOV**

It felt like déjà vu to be laying there, Edward's head resting on my belly. The only difference was the sleeping baby beside us.

We'd spent another hour in the tub, just touching and caressing and being married, I guess you could call it. We'd made love a second time but it had been everything that the first time wasn't. Soft, sensual, respectful, slow and loving.

We both laughed when I reminded Edward how he'd wished we'd done that the last time we were there too, that our first time in the cabin after my change could've been less frenzied, less hurried and that the second time soft and loving in the tub. He'd gotten his wish!

After drying each other on the huge white towels we'd dressed quietly then we'd slipped into the big bed with our baby. We were totally silent for a long, long time. Just happy to enjoy watching her, listening to her soft snores and snuffles. Every now and then I'd touch her to see what she was dreaming about.

Soon, though, it was time to talk, really talk. After all, it was part of why we'd come here. Fight Club was in session.

"You said last night that it was tough for you too, to see them together." I said more as a statement than a question.

He was quiet for a little while and then he said, "It is, in a way. I want her to have everything she wants, of course, it's just difficult for me to reconcile that what she wants is Seth."

I was rubbing his hair through my fingers. It had dried already, but it was so thick and glossy and felt so good against my bare belly as she moved and shifted. Every now and then he'd purr, letting me know he liked it.

"I know exactly what you mean by that." I agreed. "We'll get used to it, especially if he's to be our son-in-law." I cringed. I'd said it so he'd know I'd been thinking about it. I hoped he'd broaden the subject without me having to.

He reached out and took my idle hand into his and pulled it to his lips, kissing my wedding rings softly. With his thumb tracing soft circles into my palm – which reignited my desire for him – he took a good, cleansing breath before speaking, "It's the truth Bella. He will be our son-in-law, as strange as that may seem. They'll be together, I'm as sure of it as I am sure the sun will rise tomorrow."

"Seth and Nessa." I whispered. It was still very unreal to me that I was someone's mother, let alone I was going to be Seth's mother in law one day. "Do you think she's imprinted on him in return?" I asked, curious to know his thoughts on it. He could read her so perhaps something she'd thought or told him would shed some light on that for me.

"No, I don't think she's imprinted on him, as such. At least, none of us know if that's possible, an infant imprinting. We know we can imprint on an infant, but I have no idea if what's going on for her is imprinting." He chuckled. "I think it's safest to say they are bonded."

I blew out a breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. "Bonded." I tried the term out and found it wasn't' as bad as I'd firth thought. "I guess that is what they are. They are bonded." I agreed.

"They are. If he grows to lover her half as much as I love you she'll come to now harm." He kissed my fingers again and again I got the tingling deep inside me. Out of the blue he asked, "Do you think I'll be an okay father to her?"

I had to laugh. I didn't have time to stifle it but I think it might have hurt his feelings slightly so I was quick to explain. "Oh Edward. That's the silliest question you've ever asked me. Think about it rationally, if only from a human point of view if you can. Every child needs someone to love them, you'll do that in spades. They need food and shelter and protection. Need I remind you she is a Cullen? Cullen's do nothing if not provide for their families Edward. Couple that with the fact that she is surrounded by eight full grown vampires and that doesn't even include all the extended family and friends, there are a dozen wolves ready to fight for her and then there are all the humans we know who would too. I think you have the protection racket covered. Children need guidance and an education and time. Time is never going to cease for us Edward, we'll have forever to guide her, teach her and love her. She's the luckiest child I know."

With a slight chuckle he calmed noticeably. "I suppose you're right. I think I just never thought o wish for this. I never hoped to be someone's father because I knew how impossible it was. And now that I am I have no idea what I'm doing!"

"Neither do I, about how to be her mother I mean. I know I'm capable of doing all the basic things, but the emotional stuff, I'm only a kid myself really." I admitted.

"Your mother told me that you were born middle aged Bella." He chuckled. "She told me you never really needed her, you raised yourself mostly. I have no doubt that between us we'll work out what to do in most situations. We just need to learn which parts we'll be good at and which parts to ask for help from the family with."

I thought about that and it reminded me of something I wanted to discuss with him. "I don't want to be mean or to come across as ungrateful Edward, but I really want the chance to be her mother without interference from the family."

**EPOV**

Shit, that was out of the blue!

"Do you think you can define that for me love, just a little bit?" I asked carefully.

She thought on it for a moment and then spoke quietly, "I guess I want you and I to make decisions for her and about her, not the others. I don't mind them dressing her and buying her things, but the important stuff, like her education and whether or not she's allowed to do things are our decisions to make." She said this quite sternly and I had to smile.

"I feel the same way." I felt her sigh in relief and continued on, "She only has one mother and one father, and it's going to stay that way. I know we have no experience with this, no first time parents do, but the family will have to admit they don't either. We're going to face some resistance from the masses, you know that, don't you?" I asked.

"I always knew we would. You might have to remind me, now and then, that they only want what's best for her, like we do. I think we can pull this off, if we stick together. Maybe talk about what direction we want to take, head them off at the pass when decisions need to be made. If we already know what we want, what each other wants, they can't gang up on us." She giggled.

"Speaking of ganging up, did you and Alice fight, love?" I asked. I'd seen something in Alice' head, a memory more than a vision, and it was of Alice screaming down her cell phone, I assumed it was to Bella seeing as Alice had recalled it during a conversation with Bella herself.

"Mmm, yes we did. It wasn't pretty I'm afraid." She cringed but kept stroking my hair. "She called me and told me to get my as home to the cottage and fix things. She'd seen you on the phone with Carlisle, making the arrangements to move us and she wasn't happy obviously. I understand that part, but she was just so, so…I don't know, she was just really awful about it."

"I'm sorry love, I'll talk to her." I offered.

"No, don't. Please. Let me do it. Some of the things she said were really hurtful Edward, so I need to sort it out with her myself."

I tensed, I wouldn't have my sister upsetting my wife, no matter who was right or wrong. "Be that as it may, I'll talk with her too. She can't say whatever she likes without consequence."

"I don't want there to be a problem between you and your sister, but if she won't let us make our own decision there will have to be a problem. If she won't let us be Nessa's parents I'll have to take steps to limit her contact so we can be. I know that's harsh, but it's what I feel."

I sighed at that, I didn't want it to have to come to that, but I did agree with all that she'd said. This would've been much less stressful if she could still read me. "It's all so new, for all of us. Lets just give it a few weeks, let everyone settle in. the novelty will wear off and we'll be left alone to be her parents. If not, well, we'll work out the what if's together." I told her confidently.

"Okay Edward." She was smiling, I knew she was even though I couldn't see her beautiful face. "This Fight Club thing is neat, isn't it?" She giggled.

Oh shit, I really wish she hadn't said that. "Um, speaking of Fight Club…" I trailed off. I felt her shift underneath me but I didn't want her to get up. I just wanted to say my peace and then we'd put it all behind us forever. "I know why you hit me Bella and in some ways I probably deserved it, but I don't want that to happen again." I told her this as firmly as I could without actually having to insist. I wanted her to agree to that because it was wrong for her to hit me, not because I'd called her on it.

"It won't ever happen again Edward. I know everyone says that, but I mean it. I truly do. I'd like to say I had no control over it, but I did. It was a choice and I made the wrong one. I'm so sorry, you have no idea how sorry I am." Her voice was agonized and her body was tensed as if ready to jump out from under me at the slightest request.

"Won't ever strike you Bella, ever, not for any reason or under any provocation, I just won't. I wouldn't. I couldn't. I don't want you to ever hit me again, either. I know you realize we can't hurt each other physically, but it's still not right. I'm willing to chalk that one instance up to newborn rage I guess we'll call it that, but I won't have it again. Is that okay with you, love?" I'd been firmer than I'd intended, my words sounded harsh and judgmental, but I was sure she'd agree and I was sure she'd mean what she said, as had I.

"Yes Edward, that's okay with me. That's more than generous. I'm sorry I hurt you that day. I wish I could take it back." Now her voice was sad. That wasn't what I wanted, so as I had on the day in question, I lightened the mood.

"I'll tell you what, all that can stay here at Fight Club on one condition. Come back into the tub with me and search my body for scars." I kissed her belly and felt her shiver.

**BPOV**

Our time in the little cabin was over all too soon. I was sorry to be leaving, again. I always liked it there. Each time we came signaled another new beginning for us and this time had been no different. This time we'd come as a family but were leaving as a team.

Edward and I had spent the last remaining hours of the night discussing how we would make sure we were united on all fronts. We'd love to have the family involved in our lives, of course ewe would, but we each wanted it to be our lives, not theirs. We'd listen to their points of view, we'd allow them as much time with Nessa as they wanted as long as it was practical and didn't detract from any plans we already had with her.

It was as though we'd been away for months when we got back to the big house. Alice and Rose fell on the baby as though she was a cool drink in the desert and Esme bounced on her toes, eager to get at her when they were done.

Edward and I headed to the cottage to put our things away and to allow Nessa the time to show the family what we'd gotten up to in the forest. I knew she'd show them the lake, she'd loved that. She'd asked if Edward would swim with her again, I'd never seen such a proud expression on his face when he told me that he'd seen that.

Alice phoned to ask if it was all right for Nessa to have her nap at the house and after an eye roll at Edward, who could hear the conversation perfectly, I agreed. We both laughed at how quickly our resolve had shattered, allowing the family to monopolize her the instant we got home!

Edward spent the rest of that afternoon and early evening undoing all the plans he'd made to move us. I felt so guilty for all the work he'd had to do to make it happen, and now he had to undo it all just because of me. He told me not to worry about it, that no harm had been done and that it was easy to set it right, but the guilt still settled uneasily in my belly.

I used my time wisely. I studied the last of my Trig assessment piece and almost had it finished – I was so loving the vampire brain capacity – y the time Carlisle called Edward saying Nessa was awake and asking for us.

Edward asked if I wanted to go and collect her with him, but I begged off, wanting to get the school work out of the way as fast as I could. So while he went to collect her I waited for Seth.

He arrived just after I sealed the envelope on my assignment, using water, not venom this time!

"Hey Bell's." He said as I ushered him into the living room. "Nessa still at the big house?" He asked.

I smiled, "Yeah, Edward's gone to get her, he won't be long, I promise." He looked so anxious I felt sorry for him. "How did you go overnight?" I asked, hoping we could go back to confiding in each other now.

He sort of grimaced and I knew he hadn't had such a good night. "It was tough, but okay I guess." He shrugged. "I missed her."

"I know, I am sorry we took off, but we just needed to sort some stuff out, it was a bit, um, crowded here to do that." I told him. "But we're back now so you can spend some time with her."

"I can't wait." He said shyly. "You wanna give me the grand tour?" He asked, looking around the room.

"Oh yeah, you've never seen the rest, have you?" I asked. "Come on then."

I led him down the hallway, stopping at the study. "Obviously that's our study and through there is the bathroom, on this side is Nessa's nursery." I told him as he poked his head around the door to see. "Go on, have a look."

I followed him in. he stood in the centre of the room and turned around and around as though eh was memorizing its layout. I saw his nostrils flare as he took a long pull of her scent, so much stronger in here with her things. "It's cute." He said, turning back to face me.

"It's bland, but we'll fix it up as soon as she tells us what she'd like." I thought about that a little. There were going to be times when Seth himself stayed here. I'd talk to Edward about that, work out how that would work. "Come on, let me show you the rest."

I led him out of Nessa's room, down the hallway and quickly through our bedroom and out into the little courtyard at the back.

"It's brilliant Bell's. I love it." He told me. "Thanks for going to see my mom the other day. She told me you guys were real good about everything."

"You're welcome. You're family Seth, and I meant what I said the other night, you'll always be welcome wherever I am." I scooted along the low wall until I was right up against him then I slid my arm around his shoulders and hugged him. "Did you know that Emmett has finished the nursery at the big house?" I asked.

"Nope, I didn't know that."

"Well, he has. So, seeing as we took Nessa away from you overnight what about we all stay up there tonight? Nessa can sleep in her new room, Edward and I can sleep in our old room and you can stay over in the guest room. What do you think?" I asked, but he was already jittery with excitement.

He leapt off the wall and began bouncing, "Really? Oh that would be brilliant. I'll call mom, and Sam, make sure it's okay." He pulled out his iphone and began dialing.

I went back inside and began to put some things into a bag for Edward and me. I was so glad to make Seth so happy so easily.

**EPOV**

We didn't spend too long at the cottage once Nessa and I got back from the big house because we walked in only to be told we were going right back again. Bella filled me in on the change of plans while Nessa showed Seth her memories from our few days away.

"Is that okay Edward? I just figured we owed him a little extra time because we took her away." Bella asked, squinting her eyes.

"Of course, it's a nice idea." I told her. I pulled her to me and whispered, "Thank you beautiful girl."

She beamed at me, "You're welcome."

When we reached the big house everyone was busy.

Carlisle was in his study working on his charts and his patient notes.

Esme was in her studio drawing landscaping plans to match the blueprints she now had for the new pool house.

Rose and Emmett were online researching for parts distributors for the garage.

Jasper was on the phone to Peter, discussing inclusions for their book.

Alice was in her room sorting through boxes of baby clothes, making neat piles.

In her mind she'd marked one pile 'good', one pile 'better' and one pile 'there is no way my niece is going to be seen in that.'

Each of them dropped their individual tasks the instant we crossed the threshold into the living room, they came running.

A rather subdues evening was had in the big house.

Everyone was happily doing their own thing, though the difference that night was that they all did it in the living room where they could watch Nessa. Normally each pair would sink off to their own spaces after a short communal time in the living room. This time, however, everyone was content to be together, united by the antics of my daughter.

She gnawed on my thumb for a good hour, giggling each time I feigned pain. The louder I protested the harder she bit. I knew I was inviting trouble, reinforcing her cheeky behavior and that it might come back to literally bite mea t some point, but I just couldn't resist inviting that delicious giggle.

Seth had her when her thoughts began to slow for the night. Soon after Seth himself began to yawn. The baby was lying in h is lap, the pair of them lying on the floor in front of the unlit fireplace on the rug. Seth lay full out, on his back, Nessa was in his lap, fully stretched along his thighs. He was running a lazy hand through her hair and I caught myself stroking Bella's hair in time with his ministrations.

Seth was exhausted, having worn himself out the past few days pining for Renesmee. Nessa was exhausted from reliving, over and over, our trip to the cabin. Pretty soon Seth's snores were annoying not only me but the rest of the family too.

Rose was the first one to crack and Alice had to hiss at her to stop her kicking Seth in the ribs on her way past as she went up the stairs to her room. Emmett followed without a word, though his thoughts were not altogether charitable to our guest either.

Carlisle and Esme excused themselves along with Alice and Jasper who both bent to pat Nessa on the head as they said their goodnights.

Bella took Nessa up to her crib and I woke a wobbly and disoriented Seth and steered him towards the guest room on the bottom floor.

When I got up to our suite Nessa was tucked into her little crib and snuffling contentedly. Her room was beautiful. The soft pink glow was beamed around the room from a nightlight that sat on a little Queen Anne table. A dark wood rocking chair sat beside it, making my heart clench as I thought of the hours I'd spent sitting in a rocking chair watching Bella sleep during her own childhood.

A tall dresser held stuffed toys of all descriptions, as did a low wooden toy chest. Bookshelves held every nursery rhyme book known to man and probably a few that weren't.

Moonlight streamed in through the large window, illuminating the frothy while netting around the crib. My angel slept on.

I kissed her copper curls and whispered my love and wished for sweet dreams though I could already see that she was dreaming in colours again.

Bella welcomed me into our bed and into her arms. As yet there was no door to the adjoining nursery, Emmett had waited to install it, citing the need to consult me first. "It's lovely, isn't it?" She asked softly, making me think she could once again read me.

"It is." I agreed, sliding down along her body and pulling her to me. "So are you." I murmured against her hair. "Every time I walk into this room and see those pictures hanging there I get hard, Isabella." I raised my eyes to the wall above the bed to the portraits she'd put there.

"Maybe I should swap them for the ones at the cottage." She giggled.

She'd hung the portraits of my parents and grandparents, less enthusiastically I'd helped hang the one of myself as a boy as well, on the walls in our bedroom at the cottage, though not above the bed. "No, these ones stay here." I told her as I nipped bites and soft kisses along her neck and shoulder. "Will you take new ones for the cottage? Something a little less art and a little more porn perhaps?" I growled against her ear, making her squirm and shiver.

"God Edward, you're so naughty." She whispered as I took her lobe into my mouth and sucked hard.

"I am, I truly am. I've been very bad Bella. I've had some dirty, dirty thoughts about you this evening." I rolled so I was lying on top of her, my weight resting on my palms beside her head. Looking into her pitch black eyes I growled, "And now I'm going to show you what they were."

**BPOV**

Nessa woke hungry on that Sunday morning. Luckily there were eight vampires and a wolf that were eager to feed her. Today Esme got her wish. She was proud to be feeding her granddaughter her morning bottle.

It was the most human scene I'd seen the Cullen's present. Esme with the baby in her lap, feeding her her bottle, Carlisle beside her stroking the baby's curls while she fed.

Six adults sitting around watching and Seth on the ottoman, his eyes never leaving Nessa. Anyone who cared to visit that morning would've thought it was a perfectly natural family in a perfectly normal situation.

Then Edward leapt up and pulled out the piano stool and made ready to play. I shuddered all over as he laced his hands and stretched his fingers in preparation. I watched, awestruck at his beauty, as he craned his neck from left to right, working the muscles in his shoulders then flexing his wrists before placing his fingers carefully on the keys.

As the first strains of his tune flowed out of the piano I closed my eyes and thought of our night in Italy. I must have sighed quite heavily because the music stopped and when I opened my eyes Edward was staring at me intently.

"Bella?" He asked.

"Italy." I whispered cryptically so the others wouldn't have nay idea what I meant. Edward did though.

"Indeed." He grinned smugly and went back to his playing.

While he played the others began to go about their plans for the day.

Emmett went up to our suite to install the door and soon the drilling, hammering and nailing began in earnest.

Edward continued to play regardless. He was probably an expert at blocking out the outside noise his family made, by now.

Rose, Alice and Jasper were going to Port Angeles to the mall, Esme was going to my parents house for more christening organization and Carlisle was going to the hospital to check on a patient.

"Can I come with you guys to the mall?" I asked. Edward stopped playing instantly and swung around on the piano stool, staring at me with wide eyes. "What?" I asked him.

"You're actually going to go shopping, with Alice and Rose, on purpose?" He chuckled.

"Oh shut up." I giggled in return. "Can I come or is it secret christening business going on there today?" I asked Alice, ignoring Edward and Jasper's guffaws.

"Of course you can come." Alice squealed in delight. "And it's lovely, thank you." She giggled at the end.

"Oh jeez, I wanted it to be a surprise, god Alice." I grumbled good naturedly, thinking about the godparent gifts I wanted to buy. "Is that okay Edward, that I leave Nessa here with you and Seth?" I asked, knowing it would please him if I added Seth into that equation.

I was rewarded with a lovely smile from both boys, "Yes of course. Are you shopping for anything in particular?" Edward asked.

"I thought I'd by Nessa some swimming things and I want to get the godparents something from us." I told him.

"I'd not thought of that. You're amazing Mrs Cullen. I'll miss you."He told me, standing from the piano bench and coming to gather me into his arms. He kissed me soundly, eliciting a retching sound from both Seth and Jasper. "Ignore the ingrates my darling."And with that he dipped me backwards, very low, and kissed me even deeper. Standing me back up he patted me on the butt before letting me go and returning to his seat at the piano.

He'd never patted my ass before, cheeky bastard. "I'll see you this afternoon. Seth, don't let him corrupt you."I pointed to Edward and narrowed my eyes playfully. "Don't look at me like that Edward, you're not as innocent as you'd have them all believe." I poked my tongue at him, earning me a gasp and a smug grin. "Bye bye beautiful girl, I won't be long."I kissed Nessa's curls and let her put her hand to my cheek. She showed me myself poking my tongue out and then she giggled. "Your daddy is a naughty one, isn't he little one?" I chuckled.

The shopping wasn't as horrific as I'd remembered. Of course my thirst was apparent the instant we stepped through the automatic doors, but I was focused and in control and after a few seconds to steady myself I was fine. It hurt, of course, but I had always known that it would. The trick, for me, lie in relationships, as it always had for me. That succulent scent want coming from a meal it was coming from that little girls mother, that mans wife, that womans son. Relationships.

I also had a lot more stamina now that I was a vampire, so Alice could drag me from shop0 to shop without me needing to sit down to rest. She went fairly easy on me and I wondered if, like me, she was still reeling from our argument. I didn't feel any differently towards her, I loved her as I always had, but something was different between us. We needed to clear the air, and soon.

They left me alone in the jewelers, but I knew they wouldn't be far. Self control was one thing, a newborn vampire loose in a crowded mall was another entirely. So while I shopped for their gifts I kept an eye on the door and sure enough Jasper was lazily leaning against a pillar not far from the entrance to the jewelers. I shot him a 'look' and he tipped his imaginary hat at me, letting me know he was there if I faltered.

The salesgirl, Brigit according to her nametag, had taken the gifts I'd chosen to the back of the counter to wrap them. I kept myself amused while she was busy with that by looking through the glass countertops at the trays of charms. My own bracelet jangled happily from my wrist and I ran my fingers through it, picking out my favorite charms. Brigit turned back towards me and put the wrapped parcels on the counter. I asked her to please give me a moment and then I was dialing Edward.

He answered on the first ring, sheesh, anal much? "Bella? What's wrong?" He barked down the line.

"Nothing, jeez Edward, settle." I laughed.

"Oh god, I thought something had happened. Are you well, love?" he sounded really rattled.

"I'm fine, really, I swear. Listen, I'm at the jewelers and I wanted to ask what you thought about starting a charm bracelet for Nessa?"

He took half a second to think on it and then he told me it was a wonderful idea. "I can't say, out loud right now what I think I'd like as the first charm, but do you have any thoughts on it?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do. I'd like to make the first charm a little gold angel Edward."

"Perfect. Are you sure you can't read my mind my love?"He chuckled.

"Then we're agreed?" I asked. Brigit was now looking at me rather impatiently.

"We are." He said.

"I have to go Edward, I'll be home soon, love you." And with that I hung up. I looked at Brigit who was standing with the four wrapped boxes, tapping the counter impatiently with her long, obviously fake nails. "Sorry about that." I nodded towards my phone.

Had she just smiled and let it go I'd have done things differently. As it was she huffed slightly and threw me a nasty smile. With a voice that I could only describe later as 'dripping with sarcasm' she said, "Oh, it's alright, it was obviously a super important call. Don't mind me, I have nothing better to do." She actually rolled her eyes at the end!

I felt my temper rise and I saw Jasper stiffen – he'd heard her, and felt the change in my emotions too no doubt. I already had my credit card in my hand, ready to pass it across the counter to the biatch, but I pulled it back and slid it back into my wallet. "You know, I think I've changed my mind. Those were going to be godparent gifts at my daughters christening on the weekend. But I don't think I want to give them something that's been tainted or touched by a bitch like you, it might be contagious."

I left her standing there, at the counter, with her mouth gaping open and shut in anger and frustration. She pointed to the wrapped parcels as if to say 'I just did those for you' but I was already gone.

I walked directly across the centre aisle of the mall, blew Jaz a kiss, and went into another jeweler. I bought exactly the same items, plus the charm bracelet and the little gold angel charm and waited happily while the lovely girl – whose name was Trisha – chatted with me all about Nessa and the christening. I handed over my credit card with real pleasure and I bounced out of there much happier.

By the time I met up with the others I was feeling pretty damn happy with myself. I'd reined in my temper, I'd spent hours in amongst some pretty tasty smelling humans and I'd gotten all that I'd gone there to buy.

The four of us walked out of the mall arm in arm and I retold the story of the jewelery bitch for the two girls.

By the time Alice was unlocking the Porsche all four of us were in stitches, plotting the downfall of Brigit.

"Next time we come here I'm going in there," Rosie said, "I'll make her wrap a dozen parcels then tell her she's a biatch and walk out." She was cackling so loudly by then and it was so contagious we all joined in.

"Yeah, let's all do it. Every time I come to Port Angeles I'm going there too. "Alice agreed.

"God, you Cullen's are evil." I giggled.

"You're a Cullen you idiot." Jaz reminded me, cracking me up again.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. I do hope you've found something of interest in my little story, if so, please review. If I have stuffed something monumental up, please review. Thank you again, ;)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Arrangements

10.

**BPOV**

Edward was still playing his piano when we returned from the mall. He stopped abruptly when I came in through the door. He leapt up and kissed me soundly but was happy to continue playing when I said I'd go and put my things away and check on Nessa. She was down for her nap but I went up to see her anyway.

She was all tucked into her little crib, snuffling softly. Esme was sat in the rocking chair beside the windows. "She's been asleep for nearly two hours." She told me as I came into the room.

"Good. She's had a big couple of days too. You don't have to sit with her though." I giggled.

Esme rolled her eyes at me and waved me away. "I'm not sitting here because she needs me, dear."

"Oh, I see. Some nanna time, right?" I asked.

"Something like that." She agreed.

I went back into our room, leaving Esme to her magazine and her hovering. I put the godparent gifts into Edward's satchel, ready for when we'd go back to the cottage later. I put one half of her new swimming things into the satchel, the other half on the dresser in our room. It would pay to keep sets of things at both places. I was learning this quickly.

With one last look into the nursery, another eye roll from Esme and another deep inhale of my daughters scent – purely for my benefit, not hers – I went back downstairs to the others.

Seth was on the sofa playing Xbox with Emmett and I could hear Alice, Rosie and Jasper on the second floor – no doubt having some sort of fashion show, playing with their new purchases – and Carlisle was in his study as usual.

So I went to the piano stool and sat with Edward while he played. It was, once again, very calming to be sat there watching. His long pale fingers flew over the keys as he played my lullaby for me. He had been working on new things of late, at the cottage late at night he had taken to sitting in the living room working steadily. He hadn't shown me anything, or any of the others that I'd noticed. I'd heard him going over and over certain parts of his compositions, of course, but it was obvious he wasn't ready to share it with me yet. So, for now I was happy to sit and listen to whatever he wanted to play.

"Did you get all you went for my love?" He asked.

"I did. The charm bracelet is gorgeous, the charm will look lovely." I told him.

"And for the others, you got what you were looking for?" He asked carefully.

With a big smile I told him I did. It wasn't lost on either of us that all other sound in the house had ceased while we had our discussion. If it wasn't for the sleeping baby on the third floor I'd have yelled for all the 'big eared' vampires to return to their business and not be so nosy. Of course Alice had already 'seen' what I'd gotten her, and approved it, taking all the fun out of it I thought.

Actually, now might be a good time to get Alice on her own for a little chat. I was about to let Edward in on my plans when Alice came bounding down the stairs, sauntering over to where we were sat. "If you really want to do this now, let's go." She said guardedly.

I looked to Edward who had stopped playing and now looked at his sister with accusing eyes. "Perhaps I should accompany you?" He asked Alice.

"You could, but there's no need." She poked her tongue at him but even I could see, without the benefit of being able to read her mind or have visions, that her heart wasn't in the gesture.

I put my hand on Edward's forearm, "I'll be back soon." I leant down and kissed his cheek as I stood from the piano stool. "Come on Alice."

We ran straight for the river, went west at the jetty and ran the edge of the river until it met the western border of the national park. She let me run on ahead and have my way with a small female deer before she skipped lightly to my side and bore me off to a cluster of trees by the edge of a little stream. She hopped daintily onto a low lying branch and then sat, swinging her legs and feet, as though we were on some after school jaunt. She'd ask me to pinky-promise something soon!

"Do you want me to start?" I asked her.

She thought on it for a moment and then she nodded. "Sure."

So I took a deep breath and I began. "You know I love you right? You're not only Edward's sister and my sister in law, but you're my best friend Alice. But we've got a problem, don't we?"

"I know that you love me, I love you too, and not just because you married my brother. As for us having a problem, I know you think we do." She said, holding her cards close to her chest.

I moved into the same tree as her and made my way onto an adjacent branch. I sat down and started swinging my legs in direct opposition to the motion of hers. "I do think that. Is there any point to me voicing my issues? Have you seen this whole thing?" I asked.

She sort of squinted a bit and then shook her head. "No, not all of it. I've seen us hugging and I've seen us running back to the house hand in hand, but you haven't fully formed what you want to say, so I haven't seen all of it." She shrugged a little and resumed the leg swinging. "You're angry with me for what I said to you on the phone that day, aren't you?"

"Yep, I am." I admitted. "You said I was being childish and selfish and that you'd hate me forever if I tore your family apart." I reminded her, watching her wince as I recalled her own words.

"I was hurt and upset Bella. We all say things we don't mean when we're upset. You know I'm sorry about that, but let me tell you again. I'm so sorry for what I said Bella."

I shook my head, making Alice tense up. "I believe you Alice, don't panic. I know you're sorry, I am too. I didn't mean to yell at you that day either. But, that's not my problem. My problem isn't even that you called me selfish, I was being selfish. My problem is that you were pissed at me for hurting your family, when at the time **my** family that was hurting too." I gave her a second to take that in before beginning again, "Can you see that Alice? We might all be one big coven, one big family, but within that group are other families. You and Jaz, you're a family Alice. Rosie and Em, they're a family. Me, Edward and Nessa, we're a family. And while we love you all, that family has to come first for us now." I said as tactfully as I could.

She smiled a little, the light in her eyes only a dull flicker, "Are you telling me that husband and daughter trump sister in law Bella?" she asked.

"I am. That's exactly what I'm telling you. You aren't any less important to me, I promise, but they have to come first. Edward and I are going to have to choose, all the time, between what's good for Nessa and what's good for the bigger family. She's going to come first." I said it quite firmly, still mindful of her feelings.

She looked thoughtful for a moment and then turned back towards me, "What if we, I actually, what if I think you're making the wrong decisions? She's my niece, I'm only ever going to have one niece, and I want to do right by her."

"I can appreciate that Alice, I really can, but she's our daughter. _We're_ only going to get one chance at that. And it's going to be a short one, to make it worse. Seven years and she's grown up. That's going to go so fast, the blink of an eye really, and most of that I'm going to have to share with you all and Seth."

"Ah, Seth. Is he going to get a say in her upbringing then, does imprint trump sister in law or aunt, too?" she said rather nastily.

I wondered, for a split second, if she'd already seen my reaction to the way she was speaking now? "Ok, look Alice, I'm going to be real plain about this. It's me, Edward and Nessa all the way. We'll listen to your advice, we'll bring her to the house and you're all welcome to the cottage whenever you'd like. You can have as much or as little to do with her as you want, but when it comes to decisions about her upbringing and her wellbeing, that's nobody's business but mine and Edward's, end of story. And that includes Seth. He's fifteen Alice, he has no idea what's best for her and nobody in their right mind would let a fifteen year old make decisions for an infant like that. Now, I know you're all going to be saying that I'm only seventeen myself, and you'd be right to wonder if I had any better idea what's right for her than a fifteen year old, but the difference is she's mine. I gave birth to her, she's mine. Edward, for all his years, has no more experience with this than I do, but between us we'll be the ones who parent her Alice. You can make of that what you like. Being totally honest with you I don't really care what you think of it, that's the way it's going to be." I left it at that. I'd been firm but not hurtful, I hoped she'd be able to see that.

I began swinging my legs again while she processed what I'd said. A few minutes passed while she thought on it. I waited patiently, Alice was a complicated creature, she'd need a little while to decide what she wanted to say.

Eventually she hopped down out of the tree, sprang lightly to her full height – an imposing five feet one inch – and turned back towards where I sat. "I think you're right. Parent trumps sister in law, aunt and imprint. Good for you. I can buy her shitloads of clothes though, right?"

I jumped down from my perch and looped my arm through hers, "Yeah Alice, you can buy her clothes." I giggled. Apparently we'd come to an understanding. I had no idea how, or why, but Alice had put an end to the conversation, we were done here.

We began to walk back towards the house slowly, there was no hurry.

**EPOV**

I desperately wanted to know what had gone on in the forest with my wife and sister. I doubted Alice would appreciate Bella telling her to butt out of our business again and with Bella's newborn status still evolving there was always the chance of violence. I'd wanted to follow them, at a respectful distance of course, but Jaz had assured me that they'd be fine. Alice had been apprehensive but not feeling particularly confrontational when she'd left, according to him anyway.

"Bella? What about Bella?"I asked him.

"She was anxious but not upset. Just resigned mostly, like she knew she just needed to have her say." He assured me.

By the time I heard Alice' mental voice coming from the river I had worked myself up into a frenzy, as had Seth. His thoughts, whilst mostly consumed with Nessa, still strayed to Bella. He was as protective of her as he'd always been, but even I could see that it had shifted slightly. He no longer thought of her as his to protect solely, as though I was somehow going to drop the ball on that. He thought of her as tied to his Renesmee, Bella was his mate's mother, therefore he owed her his allegiance and he'd protect her no matter what, because of that. It was complicated in his mind and it was equally as complicated for me to read from him. But I understood it. In fact, I liked it. If asked I'd deny that, but within myself I knew that Seth wanting, or needing, to protect my girls could only help me because it's what I wanted too.

Alice was thinking about the swimming things Bella had bought for Nessa so I knew the situation wasn't tense or going to need containing as they neared the house.

I met them on the back stairs, Bella threw herself up into my chest as she sped towards the decking. "Were you waiting for me?" She asked against my lips.

I held her tightly, I ran my hands up her back and to her shoulders, pulling her tighter up against me, relieved to have her here and safe once again. "I was." I mumbled into her temple. "Are you well, love?" I asked.

She giggled, "Yes, of course. Did you imagine your sister and me fighting Edward?"

"Something like that. From Alice' thoughts I assume you're all friends again?"

"Of course, there was never any doubt. You're so tense, there isn't anything to worry about Edward, I promise. Right Alice?"

"No problem from my side, I just needed an attitude adjustment Edward." Alice laughed from the second floor.

I smiled down at Bella, once again astonished at the way she managed her relationships within this family. Newborn rage should be her default emotional setting, she should rage out of control when difficult situations arose but instead she was calm and collected and able to reason with us as though she'd been made centuries ago instead of only months ago. Just before I crushed her lips with my own I whispered how amazing I thought she was.

A pleasant evening was had once again at the big house with Seth and Nessa content to lie on the sofa, the television on low, while the rest of us went about our business. Bella had run home for some study materials and had set her books up on the coffee table while I sat beside her, idly rubbing her knee while I read her literature text over her shoulder.

The rest of the family were happy to sit with their own individual tasks but when I mentioned Nessa was beginning to tire they each kissed her goodnight and went to their suites. Bella took Nessa home to bed and I took Seth home to the Rez.

I had a quick word with Sue and Harry, reminded Seth to behave in school the following day and left them with the promise that I'd bring him home in time for his dinner after school and his visit tomorrow.

I'd seen Billy Black on the front porch of his house as I'd come into the Rez. I had raised my hand in greeting but he'd not returned it. I understood that, of course. I'd taken his son from him and it was probably only the tribunal itself that stopped him from trying to have me killed.

He was still sitting there when I walked back to the Aston. I again raised my hand in greeting as I passed and saw his head sag towards his chest as I did. His thoughts were mournful and my heart went out to the old man. I'd feel forever guilty for taking his sons life and wondered if Billy himself would ever understand what Jacob had taken from my Bella.

"Your daughter is healthy?" He asked, his gruff voice carrying across the gravel road to where I stood.

To say I was shocked to hear his voice was an understatement. That it was this he chose to ask me rocked me to the core. I turned towards where he sat in his wheelchair, "She is, very much so." I told him.

His thoughts turned to Bella, an image of her in his mind, as she had been as a human and then another of her as a vampire as she walked towards me at the altar to be married. "And your wife? She is well? Recovered from your troubles?" He asked and I knew from his thoughts he was asking about the traumatic way Nessa had been born, that awful day I thought I'd lost them both.

"Yes, she has. She is very well also." I didn't quite know what he wanted from me; even his thoughts gave me nothing of his motivations. I was preparing to continue my walk towards the car when his thoughts stopped me.

_'Why doesn't he come closer, come by the porch so we can talk? He couldn't be scared of an old man?'_ He was thinking.

I smiled. This was hard for him, to be civil to me, knowing what I'd done. But he wanted me to speak with him as I would anyone else at the Rez, so I obliged him. I made my way towards the small house and stood at the foot of the stairs, at the top of which he sat in his chair. "And you Billy, are you well in yourself?" I asked by way of conversation.

His thoughts strayed to my ability to read him, he was a little nervous, it being obvious that I'd approached his home because of what he'd been thinking. People in general, not just humans, were always thrown when I did as they'd bid me through thought and not through speech. He took a moment to recover from this knowledge and then he spoke quietly, "I mourn the loss of Jacob. He was a good son, he worked hard for this family. But he was not a good man in his final few months."

Sam had said something similar to me soon after the fight that had ended Jacobs life and I was a little stunned that even Billy could see that in his own son. "I am sorry for your loss Billy Black and still wish there had've been some way to resolve the issue without the need for violence." I told him sincerely. I did still regret the way things had ended, what I'd had to do to end it. The tribunal and the pack may have condoned my actions that day but there could be nothing said or done to absolve my soul of the sin of taking a life. That I did not feel that way about James, Victoria or Laurent was another matter entirely, they had been already dead in the truest sense of the word, long before I'd had party to their final demise.

"We all make choices Edward Cullen. Jacob made his and he had to live or die within it. It could quite easily have been your coven mourning your loss." He said quite magnanimously.

"I agree. I have to live with the choices I've made." I couldn't bring myself to tell him I'd do the same again if the need arose. Instead I asked what I'd wanted to know for weeks, "Your daughter is pregnant, yes?"

"She is, she's due in June." He actually smiled at that and his thoughts turned to what it would be like for him to have a baby in his lap. "It was Rachel, actually, that convinced me to cash your check." He mumbled.

My ears pricked up at that, a wide smile I couldn't suppress came to my lips. "Good." Was all I said.

"I cannot forgive you." He said.

"I know." I told him.

"You took my son from me, but you've also given me the means to help my family. Thank you Edward Cullen."

I knew it took a lot for him to thank me but it was thanks I didn't want or need and I told him so. "I don't want any thanks. I took your bread winner away, I needed to make sure you'd be okay. If you ever need more, or anything at all, you come to me, please."

"You have been more than generous, we won't trouble you for anything else." He said proudly. "But I will ask that you be mindful of the Clearwater's, they are good people, family. Seth is a good boy." He said, but his thoughts were of Seth wasting his schooling and spending all his time lying on the sofa at the cottage waiting for Nessa to grow up.

I couldn't help the snort of laughter and I could see that Billy was offended that I wasn't taking his request seriously. "I apologise for laughing, but please let me explain. The day I gave that check to Sam for you, Bella gave him one for Seth's education. Seth doesn't know about it, and we'd like it to stay that way, but just know that he won't be allowed to slacken off. He won't tread water while Renesmee grows. I believe Bella has made it very clear that a slacker is not welcome near our daughter."

"Good." Was all he said, humour evident in his voice.

I wanted so much to shake his hand. I wanted him to know I was pleased he'd accepted my money. I wanted him to know what I thought of Seth, that we'd taken him into our family and that even though he'd always be a member of this tribe, of this pack, he was also going to always be a member of our coven. Instead I tipped my head and walked slowly back to my car.

As I was backing out of the parking space I heard his thoughts one last time. '_We'll be watching Edward Cullen.'_

I wouldn't have it any other way.

**BPOV**

Alice, Rose, Jasper and Emmett came to see Nessa before they went about their day on Monday morning. Rose was off to work at the garage, Alice and Jasper to school and Emmett was going in to town to look into once again doing something at the community college to keep him amused while Rose was at work during the day.

Edward had plans to go to Seattle to see his lawyer. He offered to take Nessa and myself along for the ride, but I didn't feel the need to go. Edward would make any arrangements that needed making and we'd already discussed what plans we'd make for Nessa, so I knew he would implement those whether I was with him or not.

So when the others left Edward went to the big house with them, leaving Nessa and I to ourselves in our little cottage.

At almost two weeks old she was clearly streaking ahead developmentally from her human peers. I'd checked online and downloaded a little chart to help plot where she should be, as opposed to where she actually was. It was obvious how far she'd come even in the last two weeks.

Human babies smiled at two months, Nessa had been born smiling. She could hold her head up when lying or sitting in someone's lap, something she shouldn't be able to do until she was three months old. She could grasp objects and reach for things from the instant she'd been born and although her babbling made little sense out loud yet, her communication skills in other ways were flawless. Her gift made audible speech unnecessary for her, so far.

No doubt she'd speak out loud before too long and I knew it wouldn't be much longer before she was crawling or even walking. Edward and I were prepared for that, that she'd be a 'newborn' for only a few short weeks. We were determined to just enjoy it while it lasted and roll with the punches. So I laid her on the rug in front of the fire while I filled out her growth chart for the day. I watched her for a little while as she wriggled and writhed on the floor. Her movements weren't the clutching, grasping movements of a newborn baby. They were the deliberate placements of a child trying to manoeuvre herself where she wanted to go. I sat on the sofa and encouraged her to do her best to get where she wanted to get. "You're such a clever girl Nessa, you can do it baby girl." I cooed as she rocked from side to side and eventually, after much exertion, she rolled over onto her belly. "Clever girl!" I beamed down at her and scooped her up into my arms. "You're so clever beautiful girl. You'll be running through the forest with us in no time!"

She put her little hand to my chin and showed me the scene once again, from her perspective.

"That's right little one, you did that all by yourself. Momma's gonna go and note it on your chart and then you can come into the study with me and we'll read for a little while, okay?" I asked her even though I couldn't discern a response from her like Edward could.

Once her chart was again filled out I sat her in my lap at the desk and pulled out the last of the pages for my English assignment piece. I read aloud to her from the set text and was shocked when she whimpered and whined when I stopped. I asked her if she wanted to hear more and while I wasn't expecting an audible response I wasn't prepared for the answer I got either. She held her fist out and I lowered my head so she could touch my chin.

Instantly she began to replay for me my own voice as I read to her. It was a fairly boring text compared to what I normally liked to read for my own pleasure, but Nessa played the same part over and over for me. Then she showed me a memory of her and Edward in the study together, possibly from a few days ago while I'd been out hunting. She was lying in his lap, I could see the edge of his arm across her middle, holding her so she could see over the lip of the desk as his big hand flew across a page. He was reading to her too, but he was reading as he wrote. She was taking in what he'd written via his voice.

It wasn't anything astounding, just the details of the trip he thought we'd be making to Oregon, but she'd remembered every detail and could replay them for me as a memory.

All at once it became clear to me. We could teach her this way. She could learn, very fast, everything we wanted her to teach her. She'd remember everything ever said to her or shown to her and she'd be able to recall it, perfectly, at will.

"Oh my god Renesmee, your gift isn't just about showing people your memories little one. I think you might be a savant!"

**EPOV**

As ever my lawyer was in fine form. His disgusting scent assaulted my nostrils the instant I entered his outer office. His harassed and underappreciated personal assistant batted her eyelashes at me and begged me, mentally of course, to sweep her off her feet and take her away from 'all this'. It didn't surprise me that he had a different PA each time I visited, I doubted they lasted long with the horrible man.

She ushered me into the inner sanctum of the man himself, after announcing my arrival over the intercom. I declined the offer of coffee, tea or 'something stronger' and took a seat opposite the pug nosed man wearing the hideous snot-green tie.

He knew me better than to bother with pleasantries so we got down to business the instant the door was shut behind his assistant.

I informed him of the birth of our daughter which caused him to snort in shock. I didn't bother with details. I could tell from his thoughts that he had already assumed that I'd gotten Bella pregnant prior to us marrying and that he was ruing the fact that he'd not been able to extract a vast sum out of me for drawing up a prenuptial agreement.

"I can assure you Mr Roach my wife did not marry me for my money, nor did I marry her because she was pregnant. Now, if you are finished with your moral judgements I'd like to instruct you to disperse my assets thusly." I said icily.

Once his shock had worn off and he'd conquered the worst excesses of his fear he listened intently as I told him what I wanted done. He'd only baulked once during the entire meeting. He had objected, quite strongly too, to my request to make Seth Nessa's legal guardian should anything happen to either myself or Bella, or both of us. His objection was only because of Seth's age, but that made no matter to me, so I insisted this change be made and he reluctantly had to make it.

The disbursement of my assets, and Bella's now, was done with a lot less hassle. It was a simple matter to transfer all that I'd made over to Bella, while she'd been human, to our daughter. The family would make their own arrangements with regard to this. I'd offered to take their instructions with me, but they'd begged off, saying they each had specific plans of their own and they'd handle it, via the repugnant Mr Roach, in their own time.

I'd agreed with Bella to make provision for Seth and for Charlie and Renee during this visit, so that too was handled in quick time.

Now that my business was complete I just wanted to be home with them.

**~I'm leaving the city now. Business concluded. Tell me you miss me. E xx~**

I closed my phone and gunned the Aston up onto the dual carriage way. It was early afternoon so there would be little to no traffic yet, so it would be a fast run home. I hated being without them, away from them for any length of time, but this trip had been a necessity.

I smiled when my phone alerted me to her reply.

**~I'll pay the ticket if you make it home in less than 2.5 hours ;) What colour r yr eyes? B + N xx~**

I replied hastily, a single word, 'black' and pushed the Aston to its limit, red lining it all the way to the outskirts of Forks itself.

I wanted to stash the Aston and get going to the cottage without being seen or caught by the family but it just wasn't to be.

Emmett called to me from the third floor, knowing full well I'd hear him, so I reluctantly went up the stairs to see what he wanted.

The only part left unfinished in the nursery was the door. He'd installed and painted the skirting boards and the curtains and pelmets that Esme had designed and made had also been installed. The light fittings were in and all Nessa's things were neatly stacked into the closet spaces. A few of Bella's portraits were hung on the walls and I smiled when I saw one of myself with the baby from the cottage.

"It looks great Em." I told him, coming into the little room.

"Yep, pretty much all done now. I just want to know what you want here." He pointed to the unfished doorway. "Do you want an actual door or an archway?" He asked.

"A door Emmett, I'll need a door there." I told him, hoping he'd work out why I insisted on a door without me having to spell it out.

It dawned on his face and suddenly he was presenting his fist for me to bump and then he clapped me on the back. "Right, right. Message received loud and clear. A door it is." He nodded and winked conspiratorially. "Oh hang on, you want me to sound proof the room too?"

I laughed in reply and then I wondered if I did want it soundproofed. "No, it's okay. You don't need to soundproof it. I don't think." I trailed off, lost in the memory of this morning. Had we woken Nessa up or had she truly been ready to rise? I was sure I'd not heard her mental voice prior to getting into the shower with Bella, so I thought we were clear. Emmett was laughing his head off as I stood there thinking.

"Dude, you're the only vampire I know who's worried about getting cock blocked by his kid, but I'm so fucking jealous it isn't funny!"

I left him to his work, said a quick hello to Esme and promised to bring Nessa up with us later on in the evening.

I found Bella, Seth and Nessa in the courtyard at the cottage all happily chatting and soaking up the last of the suns rays. Bella was radiant, her skin sparkling wildly and her hair all shiny as it curled softly around her shoulders.

I dropped a kiss onto Renesmee's head and kissed Bella on the temple before taking a seat on the low stone wall opposite Seth. "How was school today?"

"It was school." He said, rolling his eyes.

Bella handed Nessa to Seth and told them we'd be inside when they were ready to come in.

**BPOV**

I led him back through the glass doors of our bedroom, down the hallway and into the living room. When we were both stood on the rug I turned and pulled him to me. I stood on tip toe and plunged my hands into his hair and my tongue into his mouth.

His deep, resonating groan into my mouth was so arousing I was ready to pull him down onto the floor with me. He put his hands into my hair and held me tightly while his tongue assaulted mine. Six hours apart was my limit. I had known he'd have to spend the better part of a day getting to and from the city but I didn't have to like it.

He let my lips go and trailed kisses along my cheek to my ear and then down my neck and into the v at the centre of my jersey. With a soft hiss of breath over his teeth he tugged my jersey aside and ran a thumb, then his hot wet tongue over my tattoo. "You're fucking delicious Bella." He growled into my waiting mouth.

We were both aware that we weren't alone and that this couldn't descend into anything other than what it was for now. So we satisfied our craving for each other with kisses and caresses. It was never going to be enough but for now it was all we could have.

All too soon Seth was bringing Nessa back inside. The three of them went into the living room and I went back into the study to finish my assignment. Soon I heard Edward's piano come to life and I was able to get a good portion of my assessment piece finished while listening to his latest compilation.

At six Edward closed his piano and asked Seth if he'd like to take Nessa to the big house, saying we'd follow in a few moments.

Edward came to stand in the doorway of the study, a smug grin on his face. I looked up from my page and noted the darkness of his eyes.

"How's it going?" He asked. "I can help you cheat if you like."

I shut my book and moved it to the side. "No thanks, just this one time, this first time, I'd like to graduate high school on my own. But thanks. If you give me a minute to finish this section I have a theory to put to you." I smiled up at him.

He put the smug grin back on his face and came towards the desk, standing squarely in front of it, his palms on the surface. "I hope this theory involved you and me being naked Bella." He growled.

H-o-l-y h-e-l-l!

"It does now." I giggled. I stood up from my seat and went to join him at the edge of the desk. "Take me to bed Edward." I hissed into his waiting mouth.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. I do hope you've found something of interest in this chapter. If you have please review. If you'd like to point out the flaws or let me know why you hated it, please review ;)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11 - Lesson One

11.

**EPOV**

"Tell me about this theory you have, love." I asked her.

I'd just returned from taking Seth home and was eager to hear her theory now. I slid into the bed beside her and she put her novel on the floor at her side of the bed. She kissed me softly on my lips and smiled.

"Okay, but it's just a theory okay? Nessa showed me a memory of the two of you in the study from a few days ago. She was sitting in your lap while you read to her from your writing." She seemed to think on it a little and then continued, "It's too hard to explain Edward, I think she might be a savant."

"Huh." Was as close to a response as I could muster. "What makes you think that, love?" I asked, mulling over her statement.

She took another moment to consider her response and then she sat up, leaning on her elbows. "Well, for one thing, she can recall with perfect clarity everything that happens around her, whenever she wants to, right?"

"Right." I agreed.

"So, if we were careful with the things we showed her, were smart about the things she was exposed to, we could teach her whatever we wanted her to learn and she'd retain it, all of it, forever. And she can then just call it up, like a memory, anytime she wants to. That's a savant, right?" She asked me.

I sat up against the headboard and settled her alongside me more comfortably. "Okay, I can see your reasoning here. If you read to her she'd be able to play back what you'd read, whenever she wanted. Which is a neat trick if it's a work of popular acclaim. But the more practical application would be to read textbooks to her, she'd be able to absorb and use the information at will." I was mumbling, to myself mainly, running it over for my own benefit rather than for Bella's. She'd already formed her theory in her own mind, mine was just trying to catch up.

"I sort of tested that today. I was reading to her, to keep her amused, while I worked on my English assessment. It was a boring comprehension piece but she played it back to me flawlessly."

"We all have things we can teach her, if it works that way. Languages, art, music, the sciences, hell everything and anything she'd care to learn really. She could have the best that all of us have to offer." I smiled.

"Exactly." Bella agreed readily. "Jasper's a math whiz and he knows all about history. Carlisle knows all there is to know about medicine and science, jeez we could teach her all about books and music and literature and all about money and even religion and things. Imagine teaching her to play like you do Edward!" Bella stared wistfully at everything and nothing and I began to fantasize about teaching Nessa to play.

"I'd like that, so very much. Do you think she'd like to learn that from me?" I asked hesitantly. It was one thing to want to teach her, another that she'd want to learn.

The rest of our evening was spent making plans to teach our little girl all that we could. Using the basis of her growth, in a few short years she'd be going off to high school, with or without us along for the ride. She'd need to be at least as competent as her peers by the time she got there. That gave us only those same short few years to teach her all we could.

By the time the sun came up on that Tuesday morning we had a list a page long of things she could learn and from whom. Of course we had no idea if the others would be interested in teaching her, perhaps they wouldn't have the time, but both Bella and I wanted to ask them anyway.

When Nessa woke Bella collected her from her little crib and I ran the bath for her. We bathed the wriggling baby together and while Bella prepared her school work to take to the big house I brushed out Nessa's curls.

By the time Bella came back to our bedroom Nessa was dressed and ready to go and was lying in the crook of my arm happily gnawing on my thumb. "Ow!" I said playfully, despite it not having hurt. She curled her lips up and made her elfin like laugh. It was becoming more like a laugh every day. It was evolving as she grew.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you yesterday," Bella called from the front of the house, "She rolled herself over yesterday."

I looked down at the baby in my arms and smiled. "Did you little love? Well then, you're the cleverest little love I know." I told her, nuzzling her belly with my nose. She began to giggle, really giggle so I did it again and again. "Does that tickle little one? Do you like that?" I asked.

**BPOV**

There was nothing more wonderful to watch and hear than my husband tickling our daughter and her laughter in response. I couldn't help but join in. I leaned across and took Edward's thumb out of the baby's mouth, telling her it was mine now. She smiled and giggled as I put it into my own mouth and bit down on it.

She laughed, her distinctive high-pitched laugh and when he 'jumped' and said 'ouch' on cue she began to laugh louder. Edward's face was glowing with wonder and pride as he watched us.

Edward pulled my hand to his mouth and began nipping at my fingers, making Nessa smile and laugh as I pretended it hurt. The louder I protested the longer she laughed in between his nips.

By the time Edward announced the imminent arrival of his siblings the three of us were in fits of giggles over the little girls responses to our joking.

We were forced to leave the sanctuary of our bedroom when our morning guests arrived but we were soon laughing all over again. Edward put Nessa back into his lap after he'd taken a seat on the sofa. Alice sat beside him and they were soon talking about Nessa's ability to absorb information. Alice had had several visions on the exact same subject during the night, so it came as no surprise to her what Edward was relating, but the others listened intently as he explained our theory.

While Edward talked Nessa reached for his thumb and began to chew on it with gusto. "Ouch you little savage." Edward said rather loudly when Nessa bit him particularly hard. She immediately began to giggle at his reaction. Instantly he leant over and began to tickle her belly, making her squeal in delight.

Soon we were all joining in, egging first Edward on to tickle the baby, then we egged the baby on to bite Edward harder.

When Alice announced that they would be late to school and work if they didn't leave now Edward extracted his hand from between his daughters teeth and stood.

"More ouch daddy." Said a little voice.

You could've heard a pin drop in our little cottage as we all came to realize what we'd just heard.

Only Edward seemed not to notice that she'd spoken this out loud. "Did she just actually say that?" I asked Alice.

"I heard her, did you Jaz?" Alice turned towards her husband who was nodding violently.

"What? What did I miss?" Edward's face was blank.

I walked to where he stood, Nessa on his hip and put my hand on his chest. "You heard her say 'more ouch daddy', right?" I asked him and he nodded.

The implications of what I'd just said dawned on him slowly.

"Wait, how did you know what she thought?" He looked at me with wide eyes. "Can you read her?" He asked.

"No you big idiot, we all heard her." Emmett chuckled.

Edward spun around and faced his siblings. "Really? You all heard her?" He asked. His face and voice radiating his growing panic. He'd totally misread the situation, that much was obvious.

I rubbed his chest again, made him turn back to me and asked him to please concentrate. "Edward, calm down. You've misunderstood us. We can't read her thoughts; she actually said it out loud. That's all. Nothing's wrong." I giggled.

"Holy shi..." He trailed off and earned a grimace and a scowl from both Emmett and Jasper for his almost slipped expletive. He looked down to Nessa who was watching the scene with interest. "Did you really say that out loud little one?" He asked rhetorically. "Can you say it again for daddy?"

Nessa looked around the hovering circle of vampires and smiled, her teeth snowy white between her rose pink lips. "More ouch daddy." She repeated in her lilting voice.

A collective gasp rent around the room while we all took in the absurdity of the situation. And then we all dived on her, telling her how amazingly clever she was, how perfect, how beautiful, how astonishing she really was.

Everyone was late for work and school by the time we got out of the cottage that morning. Edward and I asked Nessa to show her grandparents a replay of what had happened at the cottage and Carlisle went into a frenzy, asking questions and making notes about our fantastical daughter. Esme crowed with pride at her achievements and danced around and around the living room with her, all the while asking Nessa to repeat 'Nana-me' (said nanna-may, may being the last syllable of Esme) over and over.

I spent most of the day finishing my assessments and then had the satisfaction of stuffing them into the giant envelope and sealing it for the last time. I'd have two weeks to study and then I'd have to go to the actual high school and sit my exams in person. It wasn't quite as daunting a thought as it had been when I was human. I had such a huge capacity for thought now, cramming for the exams seemed all too easy for me. I'd be nervous on the day, that I knew for certain, but the idea of sitting all my exams across two full days didn't fill me with the sort of dread it normally would have.

I spent a little time in my dark room while Nessa had her afternoon sleep and I even managed some time with both my parents in the early evening. They came to visit at the big house not long after I'd left to take Seth home.

I smelled my parents scents as I drove back up the Cullen driveway. I'd not hunted for twenty four hours so their scents were going to torture me for the entire time I was with them if I didn't go now.

Taking my cell phone from my back pocket I fired off a quick text to Edward and then I ran for the trees at the other side of the driveway.

When I returned I found that my father had Nessa in his lap with my mom sat at his side. The three of them were deep in conversation, Nessa giggling and laughing at their attempts to amuse her.

"She's grown so much in just a few days." My mother said, looking up from her place on the sofa.

"She has." I agreed. "Has she spoken for you yet?" I asked.

My dad told me that she had taken to calling him 'Poppa' and that he loved it. My mother had received the nickname 'Nana-ne' (said nanna-nay, the nay being the last syllable of Renee) and that she too loved the name the little girl had chosen for her.

"What have you decided to call grandpa Carlisle then, Nessa?" I asked.

"Pa." She said simply, smiling widely, showing off her dimples.

It would take a bit for me to get used to hearing her little voice. Edward had been able to 'hear' her since the instant she'd been born, so it wasn't quite so strange for him. But for me it was amazing and disconcerting all at once.

I took a seat on the sofa and Edward came by me and dropped a kiss onto the top of my head. "Your hunt went well, love?" He whispered. I nodded and he moved back to where he'd been standing earlier. He ran a loving hand over Nessa's tiny hand and then he moved back to the sofa. "I've explained your theory to everyone now Bella, do you want to ask what they think of our plan?" He asked as he came to sit beside me on the sofa. He took my hand into his and began to roll my rings around my fingers.

I said that I would like to ask everyone what they thought and pretty soon the whole room filled up. It was just as it had been at Christmas, everyone paired up with their mates, only this time we actually had Nessa with us in the flesh.

Everyone had a turn to put voice to their opinions on our theory, especially Carlisle who said he'd already begun a new chart and file documenting all we'd found out so far, noting our theories. When the conversation died down Edward nudged me and nodded to where my father sat, asleep, with a sleeping Nessa in his lap.

"Don't mind him, he worked the late shift last night and doubled up today because Deputy Mark's wife went into labour. I'll fill him in later." Renee giggled.

"So I guess we, Edward and I, just want to know if you'd all like to teach her something of what you know?" I asked as the room erupted.

**EPOV**

"Hell yeah!" Emmett boomed, earning himself a stern look and a 'shhh' from every woman in the room.

"I guess that means you're in then Em?" I chuckled.

He had the good sense to keep silent this time and just nodded and gave me a thumbs up.

"Count me in." Jasper announced.

"I'm in, of course." Alice chimed in.

"Of course I'm in, can I be first?" Rose asked, her thoughts already swimming with possibilities.

"I think it's safe to say that everyone is 'in' Edward." Renee giggled. "Though I'm not sure what exactly I can teach her that the others can't." She mused.

"Ah well, Bella and I have been talking about exactly that." I took hold of Bella's hand again and waited until she gave me the nod to explain further. Renee was already concerned about what she and Charlie, as humans, could bring to the table for their granddaughter that century old vampires could not. So I turned to her first. "Renee, you and Charlie both have a wealth of knowledge to share, as only you can. With Seth included you are the only humans she is likely to spend any decent length of time with until she's grown. She'll need to learn the fundamentals of being human from you."

Renee's hand flew to her mouth and her eyes widened as what I'd said penetrated her brain fully. "Oh my, you're right. She's going to have to practise being human, isn't she? Oh I can teach her that, of course I can." She giggled.

"Not just that though Renee. We want her to understand where she came from. We'd like you and Charlie to explain to her, to teach her the family histories on your side. Charlie can teach her all about the law and take her fishing and show her sports and most importantly he can teach her self defence, from a human point of view. We can't do that." I told her.

Again her eyes widened, "Family history? I can teach her that, that's easy. With the internet I can even find more about our family than ever. Yes, I can do that. I can teach her other things too, like sewing, I taught you to sew Bella, even though you and needles never did make a good pair." She laughed.

"Yeah, well, maybe I should take it up again now, can't hurt me now, can they?" Bella laughed.

"I guess not." Renee said with a shudder. "Okay, count us in too then." She nodded to me and I smiled.

"Excellent, thank you Renee. Now, I've made a bit of a list and I've doled out the languages seeing as we all pretty much speak the same amount as each other. But we've kind of worked out a few specific things that we're all specifically good at. You want to hear what we've got so far?" I asked, looking around the family who were all nodding eagerly.

"I want to double up with Charlie on the sports, other than that I don't care what you want me to teach her, I said I was in." Emmett announced.

"Thanks Em, that's great. And sure, you can double up with Charlie on the sports, just not entertainment wrestling and no Xbox sports. Not till she's at high school, at least." I shuddered at the thought of my innocent child clothes lining someone in the cafeteria or pitch hitting and spitting wadded chewing tobacco all the while swearing like a sailor.

"Fine, no Xbox sports and no wrestling, jeez Ed, talk about knobbling a guy." Emmett laughed.

"Sorry, but I don't think the world is ready for a super strong wrestling addicted sports fanatic thirteen year old high school girl, do you?" I laughed, only half worried. "Right, so that's Emmett and Charlie on sports. You'll help with the self defence too though, right Em?" I asked and he threw me another thumbs up. "Good, so you drew German, Spanish and Cantonese for languages and also Chemistry in the sciences. That suit you brother?" I asked.

"Yeah, whatever you need Ed. I'm sure you'll send me a memo." He laughed.

"Maybe I would if I thought you'd read it." I retorted, "Rosie you drew Chinese, Japanese, Flemish, Physics and Engineering of course and Bella and I wondered if you wouldn't mind helping us teach her to dance at some point?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right for me. I want in on the self defence though, too. It's been a while since I've spoken Flemish Ed, but I'll brush up. You know the chances of finding someone from Northern Belgium for her to converse with are slim to bugger all, right?" She laughed.

"We know that, but we all speak and understand it, so she may as well too. As for the self defence, don't get carried away. It will be very basic while she's little, lots of theory. Later we can teach her to really defend herself." I told them. I didn't want Nessa to ever have to use any of the techniques we'd teach her, but I'd learned my lesson with Bella and rationalized that she'd need to be taught, regardless.

"What would you like me to teach her, dear?" Esme asked.

I smiled warmly at my mother, her gifts were many and varied, and it had been difficult for Bella and I to isolate even a few that we wanted our daughter to learn. "Like Renee we'd like you to teach her our family histories, our human ones that is. We'd like Carlisle, as head of her coven, to teach her our vampire histories."

"Of course." Carlisle beamed.

"But for you, Esme, we thought maybe you could spend some time teaching her to cook, we want her to be able to function as a human would. She isn't very interested in human food yet, but we hope she will be." I mused.

"You just have to keep trying. Children develop their tastes slowly, so she'll be quicker than most, but you have to keep trying." Renee offered.

"We'll keep trying, I promise. It's not like she can take a bottle of blood with her to school." I chuckled, but Renee cringed. "Sorry." I mumbled.

She waved her hand in my direction and her thoughts were quite accepting, but I knew I'd gone too far.

"Is there anything more you'd like from me?" Esme asked.

"Actually yes. You, apart from Bella and me obviously, will have the most time to spare with her, so we put you down for general culture, some humanities, Swedish, Welsh and Dutch. Oh yes, and anything you'd care to share with her about your designing and antique collections."

Renee's mouth was lolling open and her thoughts were racing. "That's a whole lot." She whispered.

"We don't sleep Renee, remember?"I chuckled.

"Oh, yes, I keep forgetting." She giggled, the tension gone.

"Right, so apart from our history I'm assuming you'd like me to tackle the religion and medicine aspects?" Carlisle cleverly deduced.

"Of course and who better?" I joked. "You also scored Arabic and Polish if you're interested?" I knew he had a lot on his plate with the hospital, so I gave him an out if he wanted it.

"Done. If she can handle it I'd like to see how she does with Neurology and Psychology. But I'll leave that until we're sure she has recall ability." He bobbed his head at Bella who was just as shocked as I was.

"Do you really think she'll be able to handle Neurology, dad?" Bella asked as though she had read my mind.

We'd been thinking in general terms when asking the family to teach her what they knew. Basic things, the introductions to languages, general history facts, a little about the working life, or hobbies in general, that we all loved or liked. Carlisle was talking about teaching my daughter Neurology as if she was going to be capable of retaining or using the actual information.

"A savant can take in and recall any information given to them. The information, in that instance, has no practical application for the savant other than retention. A savant rarely utilises the information, it can just be retained and recalled. I'd like to find out if your daughter can actually absorb, retain, recall and use the information given to her. Until I find that out for sure we'll keep things basic, but if she can actually use the information the sky is the actual limit for her." He replied, a smug grin on his face. He was relishing the challenge, the new information put before him had peaked his interest as nothing else had in a long, long time.

"Well, then, until we know what she is capable of let's make the lessons a little more basic." I chuckled. "Right. So that's Carlisle covered, what about you Alice? You've been quiet." I teased her.

She screwed her nose up and threw me a menacing scowl. "I'll teach her all about Art and Geography, I'll even teach her Turkish and Russian like you want me to, but I draw the line at Yiddish Edward. You know that always makes me sound like I have a fur ball in my throat." She huffed.

The whole room cracked up and Nessa wriggled and sighed in her sleep. Instantly everyone went silent and all eyes turned to sleeping beauty. When they were all sure she was going to remain asleep they all turned back to Bella and I.

"Jaz, will you be okay with Math, Trig, It, History, Greek and Mandarin? Of course we want you in on the ground floor with the self defence too, you're the expert after all."

"Count me in for whatever you want bro. Hell, I'll teach her the proper etiquette for riding zoo animals if you want. I just want the chance to spend some time with my niece." He crowed. He said all this with a wide smile on his face though his attention never wavered from where Nessa slept on in Charlie's lap.

"What about Seth?" Alice asked.

"Bella?" I turned to her and let her take over.

**BPOV**

"Well, Seth's special. He can teach her things none of us know too much about. His native history for one thing. He can teach her all about the wolves, pack dynamics and how things work at the Rez. We haven't talked to him about that yet, we want him to concentrate on his schooling first. But we'll ask him when the time's right." I told them all.

"Makes sense." Rosie chimed in. "So what will you two teach her then? Is there anything left?" She laughed.

"That's a fair question. Edward will teach her all about music, obviously. And seeing as Alice has stolen French from his list he's stuck with Italian, Portuguese and Latin." I thought about what else was on his list and rolled my eyes at the Latin. Rose thought there was no call for Flemish, what the hell would the little girl ever need with Latin? I shook my head and tried to concentrate on the rest of Edward's list. "Um, I think you also had finance and property as well as some IT and the self defence stuff, right?" I asked him.

"Yep, and you have English, Literature, photography, natural history, some cooking lessons and teaching her to swim." He reminded me.

Everyone agreed it was a healthy list, for both of us, and soon conversation began to move away from teaching the little girl to how much fun it was going to be to watch her grow and learn.

We took Nessa home to the cottage once my parents had departed.

Edward and I talked about how our routine would evolve over the coming days. We had three days before our guests would begin to arrive for the christening. There was a lot to do, a lot to learn and a lot to plan for before they arrived.

And so it was that our days were filled with the mundane and the excitement of new things.

Edward and I bathed Nessa at first light. Our four brothers and sisters would arrive soon after and spend a little while with her before they headed off to school, work for Rose and to the community college for Emmett. Seth would arrive during their visit, coming in on foot from the Rez, and he would leave with Alice and Jasper to go to school.

Edward and I spent our days in and around the cottage with Nessa. While she was awake she was either sitting in Edward's lap while he played or in mine while I studied.

Edward spent hours plotting and fitting all the pieces of Nessa's education into a chart, a sort of timetable in fact. There were squares during the day that were mostly filled by me or Esme, or by Edward himself. There were many squares in the afternoons that were filled with his siblings lessons and some at night that had either my parents or his parents names pencilled into them. The weekends had squares too, but I'd made him erase a few of them so the little girl would have a chance to just 'be' too. I didn't want to fill her entire childhood with learning. There had to be times when she could just be a child, have fun, be herself. I could tell that Edward thought that was an opportunity lost, but I refused to be swayed on it and eventually he'd erased a whole block of little squares, huffing all the while.

When Nessa was having her afternoon naps Edward began to teach me about our extended family and about the other vampires who were coming in from all over the world to see our daughter baptised.

**EPOV**

Finally I was able to begin teaching my wife about our extended vampire family. I took her outside, into the sunshine, and we sat in the courtyard while Nessa napped.

I'd warned Bella that it was a tricky business, keeping who went with whom, in order. She giggled and declined, again, Alice' suggestion of a chart to keep track.

"So, almost everyone is coming to visit this time. You know Peter and Charlotte and you've met the Denali girls, but there are inclusions to both those covens you've not met before." I told her.

"If Peter and Charlotte are nomads is their group still called a coven?" She asked.

"Yes, if the group travels together we still call them a coven. If they only meet up in short bursts then they are just called nomads. But because Peter and Charlotte travel with Mary, Julian and Randall they are called a coven." I explained.

"Okay, so Mary, Julian and Randall, got it."

"Mary and Julian are a mated pair, Randall is on his own. You'll like them all. Mary is a great friend of Carlisle's. He's known her for well over two hundred years. She has a special gift, she can heal humans and animals by the laying on of her hands." I let her absorb that then went on, "It's not an exact science of course, some things cannot be healed and some shouldn't be healed either. But she is able to heal broken bones and restore someone from general malaise."

"They aren't vegetarians though, are they? It must be tough for her to heal someone who's bleeding?" She shuddered at the thought.

I chuckled darkly, "She doesn't heal anyone who's bleeding Bella." I said pointedly, hoping she'd get my meaning. She did. She cringed, probably thinking about the people Mary had 'had' simply because her bloodlust had prevented her from being able to heal them. "She is of great interest to Carlisle, her abilities are something he'd love to possess for himself I'm sure. They are confidants for each other, as far as healing is concerned. They come from very different backgrounds but have a common purpose, although one is able to withstand his thirst, the other cannot. They have monumental debates about that, some have lasted weeks. It is rather interesting being in their heads when they are working together. But that is a story for another time, my dear." I told her wistfully.

She left her seat opposite me on the stone wall and came to sit on the ground between my knees. Tipping her head back and smiling up at me she said, "Keep going Edward."

I wound my fingers into her hair and did as I was asked. "Well, that's Mary, now on to Julian. He's a great man, very gentle, refined. He's been with Mary for longer than I've been alive, or whatever it is that I am. They are very devoted, reminiscent of Carlisle and Esme actually. Randall on the other hand, well, he's a bit of a rogue." I smiled. Rogue was putting it politely. He was a shit! "Randall is Australian, the only Australian vampire I've ever met, though he assures me there are others, but they stay there. All that sunshine." I shuddered at the thought of a life spent indoors.

Bella laughed. "I lived in Phoenix but I can't imagine having to live somewhere like that and never go outside during the day, ever." She was contemplative about that and I wondered if that might have influenced her decision to be changed. Thank god we lived in the drizzle of Washington, I thought. "What's a rogue exactly?" She asked.

"I don't think it's fair for me to influence your view of him without you ever having met him, so after you have made his acquaintance I'll ask you what a rogue is."I laughed. I leant over and kissed the top of her head. "So, now you know the American nomads. They are arriving on Friday along with the Denali cousins. The two that were missing from that clan were Eleazar and Carmen." I informed her.

"And they normally live with Tanya and Kate and Irina, right?"

"Yes, they do. They had a prior arrangement to visit the Romanians around the time of our wedding, so they were unable to attend. But they'll be here on Friday with the girls, yes."

"Are the Romanians coming too then?" She asked.

I thought about that before I answered. I didn't want to worry her, the Romanians weren't supposed to be the villains, but I knew if I was to describe them for her now she would forever see them as such. So I took the road more often travelled and just said no, the Romanians were unable to attend. She left that alone, thankfully. "Eleazar has a very unique gift of his own. He can see, or feel, I'm not quite sure which it is for him, another person's gift, whether they are human or vampire or anything else in between." I chuckled. "Had he met me as a human he'd have been able to tell that I would be able to read minds once I'd been changed."

"So just by looking at Nessa he'll be able to tell what she can do? Wow."

"Yes, he'll know, straight away." I told her. I wanted to tell her about his time with the Romanians but was loath to make her anxious so close to them all arriving. Her concern could be better used on one or two of the others who were attending. For now all she needed to know was that it would be Eleazar who would be able to quantify Nessa's gift for us. He'd be able to see, or feel, her potential. He might even be able to tell us if Bella's theory – that Nessa was actually a savant – was true or whether it was merely the gift of perfect recall.

"Okay, so I'll look forward to meeting him and for him to meet Nessa. What about Carmen, does she have a gift or is she plain like me?" She asked.

I flew off the stone wall, grabbed her under her shoulders and threw her over my shoulder. She squealed in surprise as I bore her inside and threw her onto our bed roughly. I got onto the bed and hovered over her menacingly. "Never, ever say you are plain Isabella." I growled into her ear then licked the shell. "You are so far above plain it defies explanation." I hissed this against the bare skin of her throat and she sighed heavily. I nipped at the soft, creamy skin of her shoulder earning me a soft whimper from my wife. "So, now that I have your undivided attention may I continue with the family tree lesson?"

"Sure Edward, because I was being such a bad student before." She giggled.

"Tell the teacher what you've learned so far, please." I asked her gruffly, nuzzling her neck and shoulder, biting my way back up her throat and to her ear, then back down again.

"Yes sir," she groaned, making me instantly hard, "I've learned that all the Denali cousins are coming plus Eleazar and his mate Carmen who is a plain vampire, like me." She giggled, earning herself a nip to her earlobe from me for her defiance. "I learned that the American nomads are coming and that besides Peter and Charlotte they are bringing Mary and her mate Julian and their coven mate Randall who is supposedly a rogue, whatever that is."

"Very good Mrs Cullen. Now, their respective gifts, Mary and Eleazar, do you recall those?"I asked as I ran my fingertips over her taut stomach and up under her ribs.

"Mary is a healer, with her hands. She can heal animals and humans but not when there is blood involved." She shivered again at the thought, "And Eleazar can sense someone's gift."

"Excellent. Good work, you shall have a prize at the end of class. Stay afterwards." I growled into her hair. I shifted my weight so I was covering her once again. I uncovered her tattoo and ran my thumb, then my tongue, over the raised inky black lettering of my name. "I will never get tired of seeing my name on your skin Mrs Cullen." I told her hoarsely as I sucked on the lettering until she was thrusting her hips up into mine. "Hmmm, should we continue with the lesson or take advantage of Nessa's nap?" I chuckled.

"She'll be awake soon so you'll have to keep going with the lesson." She purred into my waiting mouth.

I reluctantly broke the kiss and rolled back onto my side, bringing her with me so we were facing each other on the bed. I propped my head up with one hand and let the other travel along her side and hip as we talked.

"Right, that's the Americans covered, onto the Europeans I think. They too are nomads and they were unable to attend the wedding, I believe, because of trouble with their identity documents. Well, they are coming for the christening and will arrive Friday with the others. They are Charles, his mate Makenna and their coven mate Alistair. They are a very interesting group. They travel Western Europe for most of the year but also spend time in Asia as they prefer. I've never met a true Asian vampire though, I wonder if we'll ever have the pleasure on our travels?" I asked her.

"I can't wait to travel with you Edward." She whispered.

"Hmm, me either. I shall have you on every continent Bella. Now there's a very, very appealing thought." I told her as I assaulted her neck and shoulder with my teeth and lips again. "Stop distracting me Mrs Cullen," I laughed darkly, despite her having done no such thing, "Charles is a rare talent. He has the direct opposite ability to the one Maggie has. He can discern the truth from merely speaking with someone. He can actually feel it when he's being lied to. A very impressive and useful gift you'll agree?"

She sat bolt upright and leaned back against the headboard, arms crossed over her breasts. "Wait, Maggie has a gift? How come I didn't know this?" She asked at the exact same time Nessa began to waken.

"Later my love. Nessa is waking up." I told her, springing from the bed and running to the nursery.

I heard her mutter something about 'always the bloody last to know shit' but I let it go. There was plenty of time to teach her the rest before the hordes descended.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If there is something you've particularly enjoyed in this chapter drop me a line and let me know. Alternatively, if you loath something in this chapter be sure to review so I can address it. Thank you to everyone who is following my happy band of vampers :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12 – Choices, Vampire!

12.

**BPOV**

All that night I was impatient to be back at the cottage. It seemed to take an age for the evening to close in, for Seth to have his fill of Nessa, for Nessa to begin yawning.

Everyone had spent time with her today, she had performed for everyone but me and I was sulking. She'd said daddy and nana this and nana that but not once had she said mommy or momma. She'd called Alice 'Allie', eliciting such a high pitched squeal that Edward had flown up the stairs to make sure all was well. She'd asked for Poppa and had called Carlisle Pa over and over, at his prodding of course, but not a bloody thing had she spoken of me, or to me. It was as though I was just supplementary to her whole existence. I'd carried her, birthed her, fought for her. And I was hurt.

I carried her home to the cottage and dressed her in her little sleep suit. All the while she showed me her memories of Seth's time with her during the afternoon, and the early evening, even visions of her lying on Alice' bed while the fashion Nazi droned on and on about some jewellery designer called Bottega Veneta. Renesmee had no idea who that was and neither did I, but the little girl showed it all to me anyway.

By the time I tucked the spent baby into her crib I was frantic. Why didn't she speak for me, say my name? Why did everyone else get the best of her, leaving me out in the cold? She'd spoken for Edward first, then grandparents, then aunts and uncles. If she spoke to Seth before she spoke to me my heart would break.

"Will you tell me what's wrong, please Bella, this is killing me, not knowing?" Edward begged once we were in our bed for the evening.

I snuggled down into the crook of his arm and sighed. I didn't want to admit I was jealous of everyone and I especially didn't want to admit that my feelings had been hurt by Nessa's omission.

He stroked my hair and kissed my temple but didn't push. I tried to divert the conversation by asking him to tell me more about Maggie's gift.

I was intrigued by any of our kind that possessed some intrinsic talent other than those gifts we all shared. Speed, strength and enhanced senses were present in all of us. Anything over and above those essentials fascinated me. I wondered if it was the same for all of us 'plain' vampires. Not that I'd utter the word plain again near Edward. Sheesh, rose coloured glasses much?

"Alright Mrs Distraction," Edward began in a slightly worried tone, "I'll tell you some more about our visitors. But at some point you are going to tell me what has you so sad tonight." He insisted. "I believe we were discussing Maggie earlier today. As I said, Charles has the ability to detect the truth, Maggie can detect lies. As gifts go theirs are appealing ones, you'll agree?" He asked.

"Does it work on anyone, vampires and humans?" I asked.

"I believe it does, yes. I've not tested it or seen it done, but for me and for most of the others our talents transcend humanity and for me the wolves too. It is a very good point you make, very good question to ask, I will watch and learn while our visitors are here. I'd like to know if other vampire gifts work on our wolf friends." He mused.

"You might want to ask the wolves about that before you unleash a dozen vampires on them Edward." I giggled, imagining Sam and Paul being none too pleased about being unwitting guinea pigs.

"Yes of course." He agreed, "Now, Alistair. I do believe you once called me an Emo? Well, if that is the case then our friend Alistair is the king of Emo's." He chuckled.

I sat up higher in the bed and looked at his flawless face. "I didn't call you an Emo Edward, someone yelled it at our wedding and I didn't correct them." I laughed.

"Hmm, I think I've left it too long to punish you for that, my love, so we'll move on. So, back to Alistair. He has been described as having a brooding personality but I think that doesn't go far enough to describe him. He is a deeply, deeply mistrustful person, especially when it comes to any form of organised authority. It is probably a good thing that he is a vampire, he wouldn't survive in this day and age of Big Brother." He trailed off. With a wry smile he began again. "To give you some idea of just how mistrustful he can be he counts Carlisle as his closest acquaintance but he refuses to visit more than once a century." He laughed.

He let me think on all he'd said and busied himself with nuzzling my throat with his nose and lips. When his kisses became more urgent, harder against my skin, I turned onto my side so he could get better access to my body. "Mmm." I murmured as he trailed a row of wet kisses from my shoulder to my ear and back again.

"You taste incredible Isabella." He whispered into my ear. "Would you like to continue the lesson now or would you prefer to tell me what has you so melancholy today?" He asked.

There was still so much to learn, so much I didn't know about what I was. I'd had no idea that Maggie had a gift and I didn't know there was any such thing as someone who could 'feel' gifts in others. What was Eleazar going to think of Renesmee? What the hell was a rogue? Was there a wiki page I could consult to work out who went with whom and what they were capable of? Why were the Romanians not coming? Why had they not come for the wedding? Were they Carlisles friends or Edward's, did they possess gifts too?

I pulled away slightly and settled back onto the pillows. I still wasn't ready to share my petty jealousies with him so I asked for more family information. He growled softly but said nothing more about my dampened mood.

**EPOV**

"I believe I was telling you about Alistair. He has a very interesting and powerful gift. He has a pull to living things. It is rather difficult to explain, but the easiest definition is that his is a tracking ability." I told her.

She stiffened in my arms and I knew why before she'd even put voice to it. "Like James?" She asked.

"No, not like James." I was quick to reassure her. "His was a purely physical ability, he had an unusually well developed sense of smell, he could track the merest hint of a scent across continents without issue. No, Alistair isn't like James, though he can track almost indefinitely. What Alistair does though is pinpoint the position of anyone or any living thing that he seeks. Once he has your scent catalogued, memorized I suppose, he can find you no matter where you go. It is a type of magnetism. He feels the pull of what he seeks." It was difficult to quantify, I hoped I'd explained it sufficiently for her to understand.

"So I if I was lost, once he'd met me once, he'd be able to tell you where I was?" She asked.

"Exactly. If he's met you he can trace you, no matter where you are. He'd be able to tell me whether or not my search was futile. If you'd perished he'd feel it long before I found you, he'd know that from the pull he'd have toward where you were."

I let the shiver come over me. It was a chilling thought, using Alistair's talents to find what I'd lost. I hoped I'd never have the need for Alistair's services.

"Could he see you coming? She asked.

I leant down and kissed her soundly on her ruby red lips. "You're a wonder Mrs Cullen. You always ask the most perfect questions. And the answer is yes, he sees you coming. You can't sneak up on Alistair, which makes his distrust of the entire human race, and the vampire one too, so funny." I laughed.

"Why is he so mistrustful then, if he can see someone coming who could harm him? I don't get it Edward."

"Me either love. But he's from a different time, things would have been very different for him when he was first made. Dangerous. He'd have had to fight for survival, fight our kind for territory and for a slice of the human pie, so to speak. Some of us have had a hard time giving up those times, some of us still believe there are others out there that would fight for whatever piece of power they can find." I told her, deliberately leaving out the information on the two vampires I knew that were bent on just that, capturing and keeping power.

"I suppose we are lucky then, to have been made in this era." She whispered wistfully. If only she knew just how lucky we actually were, to be allowed to have this little slice of heaven for ourselves, for our family.

Whatever was bothering her, and I hadn't noticed, seen or heard anything untoward all day or this evening so I was at a loss as to what it could be, was now bothering me too. Enough was enough. I wanted her to confide in me but I didn't want to have to beg. So, instead, I tried reasoning with her. "Bella, love, it's been hours and you're obviously upset by something. Please share it with me, I'd like to help."

She closed her eyes and slid down the bed so that only her eyes were poking out from underneath the covers. "It's stupid." She mumbled.

I too slid down. I pulled the covers away from her face and looked into her sad eyes. "If it's bothering you it's not stupid. Share with me, I promise I'll try and help." I ran a finger down her cheek and cupped her chin. "I'm your husband, we're supposed to share our worries." I reminded her as I gently kissed her pouty bottom lip.

"She won't speak for me." She hissed.

I could feel the furrow in my brow tightening as I thought about what she'd said. "Who won't speak for you, Nessa?" I asked.

She nodded and hid her face in the sheets again, leaving me to think about what she'd said. As I thought about the day and evening I could see that it was true. The baby had picked a nickname for all of the family over the last few days, making them all very excited and impressed with their littlest relative. But I could see now how hurt that would make Bella, being the only one of us that she hadn't actually verbalised to or about. "Oh sweetheart I'm sorry. I'm sorry that's hurt you. She'll talk to you, I'm sure of it. I don't know why she hasn't because her thoughts are filled with images and memories of you. You know she adores you, she reaches for you first, always. Please don't take it personally my darling, she'll talk for you when she's ready." I told her, prising the sheets from her fist and forcing her to look at my face. I placed another soft kiss on her lips and pulled her into my chest, holding her tightly. "You know she's not spoken to Seth either?"

Bella pulled away from me with a rush and sat bolt upright in the bed. "Oh fantastic!" she snarled. "What the hell is that supposed to mean then?" She worried her bottom lip between her teeth, breaking my heart with her distress.

Oh crap. I thought a little solidarity would make her feel better, I was wrong. "I didn't mean to upset you and I don't think it means anything. Maybe she hasn't settled on a nickname for you yet? Maybe she has a close enough connection with you that she doesn't feel the need to speak to you yet? There could be a million reasons why Bella, I don't know what any of them are. Perhaps you should ask her?" I ventured.

"Ask a three week old baby why she doesn't feel the need to speak to her own mother?" She snorted. "God, how fucking ridiculous does that sound?"

I had to agree, it did sound bloody strange, but for Bella I had a feeling it wasn't as humorous for her as she wanted me to believe. "Bella, love, please. Please don't upset yourself over it, I'm sure there is a good reason and I'm sure she will talk to you when she's ready. Please don't be upset, it hurts me to see you so sad. What can I do to make you happy again baby?" I flipped over onto my haunches and came to rest between her knees. I put a hand on either of them and pushed them aside, bringing my chest to hers and letting my weight settle on her hips and belly. "Maybe if I can't make it better I can distract you from your worries?" I hinted as I dragged the flat part of my tongue up between her breasts, up her throat and into her ear. "Let me show you how good I can be at distraction baby." I whispered.

Her hands came up into my hair, pulling me away so that she could see my face once again. I watched as the pink tip of her tongue moistened her lower lip. "Distract me Edward." She whispered in return.

"Your wish is my command." I told her as I pulled her down the bed and smothered her body with mine.

**BPOV**

When Seth and the others arrived the next day for their visit before school I was careful to listen to see if Nessa spoke to Seth out loud. She didn't. I felt oddly pleased at that, even if it did hurt me that she still hadn't chosen to speak to me at least there was one other significant person in her life that she'd left out too. I felt guilty for feeling this petty, this competitive with Seth but I couldn't help it. I had been jealous of Seth and Nessa's closeness from the instant she'd been born, if she chose to share her voice with him before me I'd die.

When Jasper began to make noises about needing to leave or risk being late for classes again that week Edward went to him and asked if he'd take Nessa with him to the big house to visit with Esme for a few hours. I was about to protest when he shot me a 'look', effectively shutting me down before I had a chance to begin.

"Sure, I'd love to take the little miss with me. Come on little one, you can hang on to Uncle Jasper while we run. I'll be real careful Ed, I swear." Jasper told him.

"Bye for now my beauty. Momma and daddy will be up there real soon to be with you. Be a good girl for Nana-Ne." He told her then kissed her curly head.

"Bye daddy." Nessa said sweetly, closing her eyes as her father kissed her head once more.

She reached for me but said nothing. I crossed the room to her and took her hands in mine. "You be good for Nana-Ne, I'll see you soon baby girl." I too kissed her forehead but she said nothing out loud, just replayed the moment with me again by placing her fist to my cheek. I smiled as widely as I could, and then they were gone.

Edward pulled me to him and held me tight. "I honestly don't think she even realises she's left you out, love. I was listening to her thoughts, she thinks of you more often than anyone, so I can't explain it." He looked down at me and I could see the anguish in his eyes, he was hurting because I was hurt.

"I'm just being silly Edward. Of course she loves me, I know that. And you're right, she'll speak for me when she's ready." I told him, though it was an outright lie.

"You can lie to me if you wish, but you know I can read it from your face Isabella." He hissed at me. "Now that we both know that was a lie, try again, please."

He let me go and sat himself on the sofa, motioned for me to join him. I sat beside him and he pulled my hand into his lap. First he kissed my wedding rings and then he began to twist my Cullen crest bracelet around my wrist idly, all the while he tapped his foot while he waited for me to answer.

"Okay, fine." I huffed. "I'm hurt. There, I've said it, okay? Does that make you feel better?" I spat out belligerently.

He rolled his eyes, "Oh yes, I feel so much better now that my wife has told me she is hurt. Really Bella, how in hell would that ever make me feel better? The only thing worse is knowing that you're hurt and that you felt the need to hide it or lie about it." He threw me another 'look' and I cringed.

"Okay, I'm sorry about lying Edward. I just feel so stupid for letting something like that get to me. She's my daughter and I'm so proud of her and I love her so much. I shouldn't be so greedy and need her to speak for me like she does for the others. I get to do so much for her, with her, that the others are jealous of, so I have no right to want what they have." I admitted begrudgingly.

A slow, wry smile began to form on his lips. "That is where you are dead wrong my love. You have every right to your jealousy and your greed. She is ours. We want from her all that she is willing to give, no matter how small, how insignificant, how petty that makes us. It's our right to want it. And even if the others didn't exist you'd still want this from her because it's something she shares with me. I understand that."

"Why did you send her to the big house without us this morning?" I asked him, slipping my arms around his waist and tucking them into the waistband of his jeans. I felt him shudder and had to suppress the smug grin I knew I was now sporting on my lips. Even when I was hurting I still felt powerful because of his physical reaction to me. That this perfect creature desired me still felt fantastical.

"It's something Alice was thinking. Maybe if we let Renesmee miss you a little bit she'll actually ask for you instead of reaching for you." He mused. When his lips connected with my temple I felt the fiery heat of lust creep up my tummy and into my chest.

"Why is Alice thinking about this Edward?"

"Because she cares about you and she sees shit you don't want her to see." He chuckled darkly.

I wanted to be pissed that Alice was plotting ways to help us, without talking to us about it, when I saw it for what it really was. I'd warned her to stay out of our family business but I couldn't be angry with her for wanting to resolve my hurt. Who knew, it might actually work? I reached up and ran my hand over Edward's cheek, thumbing his hair and winding my fingers through the coppery strands at his neck. His eyes were darkening was I watched, his breathing was beginning to labour. "Edward, last night I let you distract me and you were very, very good at it." I purred, slipping further into his lap, up against his chest, so I could kiss his perfect lips. He was nodding even as I was kissing him. "Do you think I could have a turn to practise distracting you?" I felt the shiver as it overtook him and I smiled, "I promise I'll treat you good baby." I whispered against his throat right before I bared my teeth and bit down at the hollow under his Adams apple.

"Oh fuck Bella." He groaned as he pulled me hard up into his chest, letting me feel his straining dick as it pressed into my belly.

"Now there's a good idea, Edward. Let's do that." I growled into his waiting mouth.

I pulled him with me to the floor of the living room and shredded his shirt as he fell. His eyes flew open at the sound of the ripping fabric and then his lips formed a perfectly crooked smile. "You're the most dangerous creature I've ever met." He mocked, "You don't need practise at distraction baby." He lowered his mouth to mine and I felt his tongue press for access. Letting my lips fall apart I took his tongue between my teeth and bit down gently. "Mmm." Was his response.

The fastest way to have him, to be closest to his perfect marble skin was to get us out of our remaining clothes as fast as possible. While I held his tongue in my mouth I used my nails to slit the side seams of his pants and then I pulled them off his trembling body. Reaching down between us I did the same to my own jeans and they joined his in a pile at our feet. His shirt was already a casualty so it was only fair that mine suffered a similar, if not the same fate. I let his lips go with a loud sucking noise and pushed myself up onto my elbows so I could pull the offending garment off over my head. I was about to reach for the clasp of my bra when Edward began shaking his head. "No, no, that's my job." He bared his teeth and snarled menacingly, making my body shiver and shake at the abject violence on his face. The snapping sound of my bra clasp disintegrating between his teeth sent another shiver through me, making me moan loudly. He put a hand on either side of my face, on the floorboards, and held himself above me. "You like that?" He huffed into my mouth as he hovered over me, using his considerable strength to press me back onto the floor. All I could do was nod. He peppered my neck and cheek with hot, wet kisses as he began growling, "You like it when I let my nature out to play?" With soft bites to my shoulder and collarbone he made his way towards my now exposed breast. "You like it when I'm more vampire than man." He wasn't asking now, now he was telling me what he already knew was the truth. He let his tongue lap across my nipple, making it pebble instantly. "Oh yes, you love it when I take from you." He hissed before taking the entire nipple into his mouth and sucking hard.

I fisted his hair and pulled his mouth onto my flesh harder. "Yes...oh yes..." I mumbled.

Bracing himself on one hand he reached between us and yanked his boxers off, the resounding rip startling me. "Are you afraid?" He was smiling smugly so I knew this was part of the game, the idea of being afraid of his strength had only occurred to me once or twice since I'd met him. This was not one of those times.

I allowed a smile to cross my lips and then I looked up into his pitch black eyes. "Do your worst Edward." I taunted him by way of an answer.

**EPOV**

She was so fucking hot I was having trouble keeping my lust in check. I could quite easily see myself destroying the room to get inside her. She'd ignited my desire in milliseconds and the more of my clothes she shredded with her nails the more intense my need to possess her became. Who in their right mind tells a century old vampire to do his worst while lying under him all but naked?

My smoking hot wife, that's who, "I'll do my worst alright Isabella." I snarled into her neck, my teeth sinking into her perfect flesh. "I'll show you my worst." I told her as I flipped her over and held her to the floor with the palm of my right hand. With my left I snapped the side seam on her panties and flung them out in front of her so she'd see them in a tangled mess while I had her. I bit down into the soft flesh at her shoulder, letting my hand travel from her neck down her spine across her ass cheek and down between her clenched thighs. "Mine." I growled as I slipped a finger between her sopping wet folds and felt for the first time just how much she wanted me.

Using my knees I prised her legs apart and positioned myself at her entrance. She was moaning softly, knowing what was about to happen and just how good it was going to feel.

"Tell me." I insisted.

She took in a huge gulp of oxygen and twisted her head to the side, meeting my eyes with hers. "I'm yours. Do it, do it now." She taunted.

I wrapped her hair around my right wrist, wound my left hand underneath her and pulled her hips up to meet mine. I shoved myself into her unceremoniously and roared my pleasure into the silent cottage.

The instant we were joined her thoughts were mine. _'Oh fuck...oh fuck...oh fuck...so deep...yes...' _she told me.

'You're mine...only mine...so wet for me...is this what you wanted...is it...' I demanded of her as I pumped violently in and out of her tight, wet hole.

She put her palms onto the floor at her shoulder width and pushed back to meet each of my thrusts, effectively deepening the sensation twofold. I bucked wildly into her, the sound of my balls slapping her fevered skin reverberating around the room eerily. _'Yes...it's what I wanted...only you...always you...'_ she was panting as she thought it.

'Do you want the vampire or the man Isabella?' I asked her. I shifted up higher onto my knees and let go of her hair. Her head fell forward and she sucked in another gulp of air. I put both my hands at her waist and dug my fingers into her skin. I pulled her back onto my pulsing length as hard as I could and scored a loud, rasped out shriek of pleasure from her as I buried myself even deeper inside her. 'Well...vampire or man?' I asked again.

"Vampire!" She bellowed as the first waves of her climax took her. I stilled slightly, loving the feel of her inner muscles clenching and freeing only to clamp down again on my prick as the shudders overtook her.

'That's it...cum for me...cum on my cock...cum on my vampire cock...' I told her.

I resumed my pounding just as the last ripple of her orgasm subsided. She gasped loudly as I recommenced feeding my length into her. She turned once again and showed me her parted lips, her pitch black eyes, her pink tongue that darted out to moisten her lips between each moan and groan that escaped from between them. I moved in a blur as I took her. It was a frenzy that not even I could control as I moved towards my own release.

_'God yes...right there...so good...too good...mine Edward...'_ She purred in her thoughts as I continued my assault on her body.

I dug my fingernails into her hipbones when I felt the familiar clench in my balls that signalled the beginning of my orgasm. 'Bella...I'm gonna...Bella...oh...god...Bella...' I was mumbling even in thought as I pounded my way towards the bliss I knew awaited me inside my wife.

_'Vampire or woman Edward?' _She asked.

The idea of it, the very idea that I could choose to take her as a vampire or a man, that I could have her as a woman or a vampire was too much for my brain to process.

"Vampire!" I shouted, still staving off the nirvana I could feel just out of reach.

Without warning she flung herself to the floor, dislodging me from within her. In a tenth of a second she was out from under me and I was the one on the floor, on my back, with my wife lowering herself onto my dick. _'Vampire it is.'_ She licked her lips in a smooth, totally fucking hot motion and then _she_ was fucking _me._

She threw herself down onto my chest once she'd set a quick pace, sliding up and down my shaft with abandon, bringing me at once back to the heightened tension I was at only half a second ago, reaching for the euphoria I was desperate to have.

'Oh god Bella...faster...' I begged as she rode me. She gripped my head between her hands and pushed her tongue into my mouth.

_'Mine...all fucking mine...the man, the vampire...you're all fucking mine...' _She told me as she bit my tongue hard.

She let my mouth go and latched her teeth onto my neck, just below my ear. I could feel her teeth and the sting of her venom as she bit down. Her fingers held my head still so she could have me as she wanted me. My hands kept her heat clamped down on my cock and it was all too much. With one last bite to my neck I lost myself in her strength.

'Vampire...' was my last coherent thought as I spilled inside her.

_'My vampire...oh yes...oh yes...mine...always mine...' _She hissed in her brain as she let her teeth find purchase on my ear lobe, her own climax shuddering around me as my icy load burst into her.

It was twenty minutes before I could bring myself to withdraw from her body. It had been so long since she'd been able to read me. If asked I'd never have admitted to anyone other than her that I missed it, but I did, desperately. This was the only way to get that connection back and I hated having to break it. It was another hour before either of us could bring ourselves to move off the living room floor.

We'd laughed and joked about our twin loss of control, our talk of vampire versus human. It felt funny now, to think of ourselves as two halves. It had been so long since I'd thought of my human side, that there was a man inside me and not purely a vampire. But Bella did that for me. She had always brought out the humanity in me, no matter that it was a very small part and buried very deeply. Our coupling that morning was nothing to do with the man inside me and everything to do with the vampire who lived in my brain. Bella had wanted me to be the vampire, and I had been. Just as she had chosen the vampire within herself, to dominate me.

Eventually we showered and changed our clothes, tidied the living room and threw the useless clothing that was scattered around it in the rubbish.

"Let's get our things together and head up there. She'll be asking for you soon." I told her and waited for her to collect her school books, her memory cards and then I slipped them all into my satchel and took her hand.

**BPOV**

I could hear Esme and Nessa as we reached the jetty. Esme was singing and Nessa was doing her best to echo the sounds. It was both lovely and funny to listen to.

Edward ran beside me, his hand tightening around mine when he heard their light hearted play for himself. "Listen to that." He whispered. "She's got the tone right, the melody is right too, but she can't form all the words." He laughed.

I couldn't help but giggle as we reached the backdoor and Nessa tried to copy her grandmother's lyrics. When Esme sang 'out of the tree of life, I just picked me a plum' Nessa sang 'out of the free of rife, I yust picked me a pulum'. It was so gorgeous. "What is that song?" I asked Edward in a whisper.

We came to a stop at the foot of the stairs and Edward stared off into the middle distance while he listened some more. After a few more lines he turned to me, smiling widely, "It's Sinatra, it's the lyrics from the best is yet to come." He told me.

"I knew you'd know." I slapped his forearm playfully.

He tipped his head modestly but his smile said it all. He was pleased and I was proud. He took my hand back into his as we ascended the staircase to Esme's loft.

Esme must have either heard our approach or smelled it because she stopped singing and told Nessa that we were on our way up to see them. And that's when I heard her.

"Mommy! My mommy!" Nessa trilled in her tiny little voice. My heart soared. She'd said my name! She asked for me, truly asked for me, out loud.

I flew up the last of the stairs, pulling an equally happy and stunned Edward behind me and we both burst into Esme's loft with a soft crash as the door hit the wall beside us. I scooped Nessa out of Esme's arms and twirled her around and around, burying my nose in her neck and kissing her cheeks all the while. "Hello my beauty!" I sang as I held her. "I heard you say my name. Did you call for your mommy, little one?"

Nessa wriggled in my arms until I held her out away from me and then she was reaching her hands out for my face. I let her put her fist to my chin and she showed me how she had said my name, how Edward and I had come bursting into the room and startled her and how I'd laughed and swung her around and around just now. "My mommy." Nessa giggled, lighting my heart on fire once again.

I looked across her to where Edward stood with Esme, they were hand in hand and both staring at me indulgently. Esme had her hand on her heart and I switched Nessa's weight so I was holding her on my hip and I used my free hand to mimic Esme's gesture. Edward mouthed 'I love you' to which I replied in kind and then I turned my attention back to the wriggling baby at my side. "I'm so happy to hear your little voice baby girl. Have you had a nice time singing and dancing with Nana-me?"

"Nana-me sing!" Esme shrieked to our amusement.

"I guess that means she liked it, Edward?" I asked.

He was grinning from ear to ear, his pride evident. "Oh yes, she loved it. She particularly liked Elvis." He told Esme who was smiling just as widely.

"When then, next time we'll do some more Elvis." Esme told Nessa who began to clap her little hands enthusiastically.

"That's new." I shot a look toward Edward who was standing with his mouth agape.

"It is." Was all he said.

"What plans do we have for the rest of today?" I asked.

"I was going to play, but if you have something in mind, I'm not fussy." Edward told me.

Esme was already digging out her blueprints for the swimming pool so I figured she'd be busy up here for a while yet. "I don't have anything in particular in mind, but it might be nice to visit mom. We could go and see how the renovations are going and Nessa might like another ride in the car."

We both looked down at the baby and she was smiling and clapping again. "Daddy car!" She giggled. "Mommy curse." She said at the end, making me cringe.

"Does she mean that day when we couldn't work out the seat Edward?" I hedged.

"I'm afraid so love, she kinda liked it when you got all, um, and well you know." He chuckled.

"Brilliant." I mumbled. "Okay, well, there won't be any 'mommy cursing' but we can go in the car little one." I told Nessa who clapped again.

We found my mother covered in cobwebs and a curious mix of paint speckles and cement dust. She looked like Casper the friendly ghost and when she coughed a huge cloud of white dust came out of her mouth, making Nessa giggle.

After an enthusiastic greeting we were given the grand tour of the facility and then she showed us the plans – taped to the wall in the office – of what the place would eventually look like.

There were several workmen in and around the facility while we toured and their scent set my throat on fire. It had been more than twenty four hours since I'd last hunted and although the scent of my mother did little to nothing for me, the scent of the workmen did. They were sweaty and smelled delicious.

Edward noticed when my hand covered my throat and after a quick whisper to my mother he grabbed my hand and bore me off out the back doors and into the woods behind the playground. Once I'd had my fill of the small deer there we wandered back to the daycare centre hand in hand.

As the newly installed playground came into view our daughter could be seen and heard squealing in delight as her grandmother held her on the swing. She sat in Renee's lap with one arm across her middle as my mother used her feet to propel them both through the air. They weren't going very high, maybe a few feet in either direction, but Nessa quite obviously loved it.

They were both grinning from ear to ear as we approached. My mother in pride Nessa in wonder.

"Mommy! Mommy! My mommy, my daddy!" Nessa bellowed as she caught sight of us. Once again my heart burst as I heard her call for me.

Edward knelt down in front of her and asked her how she liked the playground and of course she told him, quite clearly too, that she liked it a whole lot.

Renee handed the baby to Edward as a workman came outside to ask where she needed something installed so we said a quick goodbye, promising to come back again soon.

Nessa slept for two whole hours that afternoon. Edward took full advantage of the quiet in the little cottage to teach me more about the vampires who were arriving in just forty hours time.

* * *

**A/N: So, the little family is coming along nicely. Still learning about each other and the extended family, but moving along. If you have enjoyed this chapter please take the time to review. If you hated it, let me know why. Thanks so much. **


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 – Family Values

13.

**EPOV**

"This group is less complicated than the others though the leader, Zafrina, has a most amazing gift. She is head of the Amazon coven. They are three females Zafrina, Senna and Kachiri. While Kachiri is easily the oldest, made some time around 1500 Carlisle believes, Zafrina is definitely the leader of the group. Senna hardly speaks and is very meek, she is also painfully frightened to be too far from Zafrina. I'm afraid you won't have much of a chance to get to know her. I've seen her on and off for all of my hundred years and I don't know the first thing about her." I told her honestly.

"Do they speak English?" Bella asked. She was folding clean clothes while I was stacking them into piles to be put away later.

"They do, though both Kachiri and Senna prefer to be quiet most of the time. Zafrina is prone to wild outbursts and movements, she'll probably startle both you and Nessa the first time you meet her." I chuckled. "No doubt they'll arrive in animal skins as they did last time. There was a customs official in Seattle who wanted to refuse them entry into the terminal because of their 'sinful' dress." I used air quotes but Bella wasn't watching.

"Okay, got it. Amazon coven, Zafrina is the leader, all females. Senna and Kachiri very quiet. Animal skins. Got it." She quoted me back.

With the folding complete I pulled my wife into the study and sat her in my lap on the window seat so we could watch the snow fall outside. I spent half a moment tasting the smooth, soft skin of her neck before continuing on with our lesson. "Zafrina's gift is probably the most effective offensive weapon I've ever seen. She's not dangerous, so you shouldn't worry, but she can manipulate what you see." I told her, ready for a lengthier explanation once she'd taken that information onboard. "She can create, and project much like Nessa can, any visual illusion she chooses you to see. It is quite formidable and totally unavoidable. There is no way to get out from underneath whatever vision she wishes you to see."

"So she blinds you?"

"No, no, nothing like that at all. For instance, I can be standing in a snow drift, knee high in slush but Zafrina can send an image to my brain that makes me see a rainforest, or the beach in high summer. She really can make you believe what you're seeing. It's remarkable." I told her wistfully. "She once made me think I was standing in the middle of the running of the bulls."

"Renesmee does the same thing though, doesn't she?" Bella asked.

"I don't think she does, no. I don't profess to know all there is about either of their gifts, but from what I've already seen of our Nessa her images aren't illusions. She shows us actual images of actual situations she's actually been in. Zafrina can project an image into your brain that you might never have experienced before; she herself doesn't need to have experienced it." I told her, hoping she could see the difference despite my appalling articulation.

Bella stiffened and turned to face me, her face full of worry. "So does that mean that Zafrina can show someone horrible things, evil things, even if she's never seen them herself? Is that what you mean about it being a weapon Edward?"

I sighed, "Yes Bella, that's what I meant. A few seconds distraction during a battle would be enough to see Zafrina clear of any affray. I'm sure the types of images she could project would be less than flattering to whomever she was wishing to escape. But there will be no reason for her to show you, or Nessa, anything less than a serene rock pool, I promise." I kissed her stricken face and she calmed noticeably.

"Can you read her?" She asked.

"Of course." I told her confidently.

"Well, don't be too cocky there Mr Cullen, you can't read me." She punctuated her point by sticking her tongue out at me and turning back around.

"Yes well, until I met you I'd never come across someone who I couldn't read, ever. I guess that just goes to show what a remarkable creature you really are, however nasty you are to me." I pouted affectionately.

"Nasty? Me? Me nasty to you? Oh how quickly they forget." She giggled, shaking her head.

"I haven't forgotten anything, my love." I kissed the back of her neck again, making her jump and writhe in my lap. "You keep squirming around like that and I'll be forced to replicate what it is you think I've forgotten." I laughed.

"Promises, promises." She retaliated with an eye roll and a clucking of her tongue.

"Oh baby, you better be sure you can win a war before you start a battle." I laughed, dragging her higher up my thighs so she was once again squirming around in my lap and she could feel, already, just how serious I was about showing her what I remembered from our morning.

She gasped when she felt me hardening underneath her. "Jeez Edward, are you sure you're over a hundred years old? That feels more like horny teenage boy to me." She giggled, pressing herself down into my lap harder.

I snaked my forearms around her middle and held her closely to me, letting my erection grow of its own accord underneath her perfect peach of an ass. I kissed her neck and sucked on her warm, soft flesh. "Earlier it was the vampire you wanted, you want a taste of the man now, baby?" I hinted.

"Look at the time Edward. She'll be awake in a few minutes and then Seth will arrive. We'll either get caught or have to keep it short, neither of which appeals to me right now." She chuckled.

With a regretful sigh I had to admit that keeping things short didn't appeal to me either and the idea of being caught by Seth, or waking Nessa, appealed to me even less. "Fine. But tonight, once that baby is asleep, I'm going to make you beg for the man." I told her with a loud kiss to the top of her shoulder.

**BPOV**

I didn't want to stop what he'd started but I knew there were still things I had to learn before our guests arrived on Friday and we were running out of time.

"Are there anymore clans I need to know about Edward?" I asked, hoping he'd slip back into teacher mode without too much of a fight.

He sighed heavily but went on to tell me there was one more coven attending. "The Egyptians will be coming this time too." He said this with an edge to his voice that I couldn't quite place.

"And the Egyptian's coming is a problem, is it?" I was worried now.

"Not a problem, no. But, like Randall I don't want you to form an opinion about Amun, or any of them really, before you get a chance to meet them for yourself." He ran a hand through his hair so I knew he was either worried, keeping something from me or knew something I didn't. It was probably all three, knowing Edward.

"Right, so start with Amun" I coaxed.

"I wish it was that simple. Okay, I'll do my best to be impartial but I'd like it noted that this coven, no, that's wrong. I shall start again. Amun is Carlisle's guest, not mine. He will arrive with is mate Kebi. As with Zafrina you won't get the chance to know much about Kebi, she does not speak to anyone nor is she either able to or allowed to leave Amun's side. I've never been quite sure whether it's because she is intimidated by him or merely a pacifist, but no matter. She will stand behind him at all times and won't speak in company." His voice was strained, as though he himself wanted to rescue the poor woman from the evil Amun.

I didn't want to form any untrue, or rash for that matter, opinions of vampires I'd never met so I'd leave it alone for now and form my own ideas when I actually met them. "The rest of the coven, are they quiet too?" I asked.

"Oh no. You'll like the others I'm sure." Which was an odd thing for Edward to say seeing as he'd just stopped himself from saying too much about Amun so I could form my own opinion. Why he thought I'd dislike him I wasn't sure, but something about the way Edward spoke told me it was highly likely that I wouldn't. "There are two others. Benjamin and his mate Tia. Tia is sweet, very very young and a bit of a philosopher at heart. She doesn't speak overly often, but when she does you can guarantee it's a well thought out opinion that comes forth. You'll like her although her English is fractured at best."

"And Benjamin is he quiet too?" I asked, hoping he'd elaborate some more on the dynamic within this coven.

He chuckled lowly, "Nope, he's the very antithesis of his maker. Amun would have you believe that Benjamin is lazy and will not work to harness his amazing gift when in reality Benjamin is actually happy with what his god has given him and has no real interest in learning anything more than he already knows." He laughed. "Benjamin has been called the most physically powerful vampire of our time Bella. He has the power to manipulate the elements. Fundamental elements like fire, water, earth and the air. I've seen him create a geyser from nothing, out of rocky earth it sprang up and drenched us all. It's quite an amazing gift." He trailed off, lost in thought or memory.

Wow. That would be an awesome gift to have. To be able to move stuff and make something from nothing. "What fascinates me most about the other gifts out there is that all the Cullen ones are good ones. Alice can only help by being able to see the future and I've never seen Jaz do anything other than nice things with his gift. You don't use the information in people's heads against them, so yours is a good one too. But the talents some of these other vampires have could be pretty scary Edward. Imagine having the power to make fire? How could you use that for something good?" I was half asking a question and half sorting through the new information in my head.

"All of our gifts could be used for less than charitable ends Bella, never forget that. Jasper has had to use his gift many a time to protect himself, and me, and the family. Remember, he makes you feel what he wants you to feel, if he wants you to feel pain, or anguish, or insanity, he can." Edward said sternly. I'd never thought about it that way before and was glad that Jasper was on my side. "I could quite easily use the information I read from people, but usually there is no point. But I could if I wanted to."

"I know you Edward, you'd never do that, not if you had any other choice." I told him. "The vampires that are coming, they've all used their gifts for bad things, right?" I asked.

Edward pulled me harder into his chest anyway, probably thinking I was worried. "They are good people Bella. None of them want to use their gifts as a weapon, but it would be nice to have a little something extra to protect ones mate, or family, wouldn't it?" He asked. "Nobody wants to use their gifts to hurt people, but we will if need be. You have to see that if you had to you could use what you had to protect Nessa?"

"I suppose so, yes. I can see that." I'd think on it some more, but for right now I had plenty to do now that we could hear Nessa stirring. "Come on daddy, let's go and get Nessa and take her out into the snow to play before Seth gets here."

**EPOV**

Our vampire family and friends arrived en masse two days before Nessa's christening. They came by plane, by car, on foot and via the sea in Peter and Charlotte's case. They were the first to arrive, to Bella's delight.

It was a loud and very amusing reunion, during which Charlotte told us how her and Peter had made a wager that she could beat him, hands down, if they swam to the Olympic Peninsula that day. He now owed her two weeks vacation in Barbados, his treat. He didn't look all that bothered by losing but was worried about how to take his mate to the beach for two weeks without being seen! Charlotte mused that that was his problem.

All Bella's lessons would pay off once the others arrived. She'd know who was who, if not by sight then by coven. Carlisle told her that as head of our coven he was obliged to invite some, others he'd just wanted to catch up with and there was the smallest hint of pride at his being able to present his granddaughter to them. I was happy for him to be able to do this, after all, I too was very proud.

Charlotte and Peter, after a boisterous reunion with Jasper and Alice, were quick to ask to meet Renesmee. But we wanted to wait to introduce everyone to our daughter. It was going to be quite an ordeal for her and we didn't want to have to explain her gift over and over. Once to today's arrivals and once to tomorrows would suffice.

Nessa was asleep in her little crib upstairs in her nursery when they had arrived. The three of us wouldn't be staying in the big house anyway, we'd be going home to the cottage, leaving our room here for guests to stay in. We'd have to watch – and listen carefully – to make sure that none of our guests snuck upstairs. I was betting, against Jasper no less, that Charlotte would be the first to try.

Before Jasper had the chance to hide away with Peter to work on their book our second arrivals came up the driveway.

Irina, Kate and Tanya – affectionately known as the Denali cousins – came tumbling out of a tiny VW Beetle and flew up the stairs and demanded to see Nessa before they'd even said hello to us!

After a somewhat more subdued round of greetings and us caving in and telling them they could see her the instant she woke up, Esme bore the women off to her studio to show off the pictures of the cottage and what she was planning for Nessa's nursery there.

I heard the mental voices approaching from the river and told those gathered to prepare for more visitors. "Bella, look there love." I pointed to the backyard where the three vampires were laughing and joking as they ran towards the house. "These are Peter and Charlotte's coven mates." I told her, eager to see if she remembered our lessons.

She stood beside me as our newest guests announced their arrival at the backdoor. Carlisle called for them to please come in and to join us in the living room, which they did. After shaking hands with the taller of the two men I was fist bumped by the shorter and hugged by the woman. "Bella, this is Mary and her mate Julian and this is Randall. This is my wife Bella." I said proudly as the introductions were made.

"It's very nice to meet you." Bella said tentatively.

"Oh, she's a cracker, good job mate, good job." Randall said in a thick Australian accent.

Bella giggled and I shook my head, Randall was the worst flirt I'd ever come across. Up until now it hadn't bothered me, I would have to watch him carefully now however. "Thanks, I think." I mumbled as he stepped away to greet Tanya rather familiarly.

Mary and Julian both said their hellos before they asked politely after Renesmee. I gave them the same answer as the others, when she awoke we'd bring her down to meet them. I took a second to scan the room and saw that Charlotte was still there, standing beside Emmett.

I was about to pull Bella outside onto the deck for a few quiet moments alone when a loud trumpeting horn sounded from the turnoff to our road. The Irish had arrived.

They arrived in high spirits and I soon learned why.

Maggie and Garrett burst through the front door, calling for everyone to look and listen. When the room fell silent Maggie held up her left hand and the sparkling diamond on it was noted by all and sundry. Many congratulations for their very recent – three days ago, in fact – and very secret nuptials were shared amongst the crowd. Bella hugged Maggie and kissed Garrett affectionately and I was so very happy that she not only remembered them but liked them too. Siobhan and Liam were a little more reserved in their greeting but no less sincere when they both kissed and hugged first Bella then me, telling us both how happy they were for us.

Behind them came Eleazar and Carmen who, for some reason, had not travelled with the rest of the Denali cousins. They strode into the house amid the dying cheers wishing Maggie and Garrett well.

"Why did you not arrive with your coven Eleazar?" I asked, already knowing the answer but wanting the chance to get one up on my friend. We'd had many a verbal sparring match in the past, I was eager to rekindle our game.

"Ahh, my dear Edward, the joys of a mate are many and varied. They must be partaken of often and with much enthusiasm. This is not possible when travelling with three bored, sex starved females in the smallest car known to man." His great booming laugh echoed around the room. "We took a private vehicle from the airport." He winked at me before shaking my hand again. "It is good to see you young Edward. And who is this beauty?" He nodded towards Bella.

"Eleazar, Carmen, this is my Isabella. Bella, this is Eleazar and his mate Carmen from the Denali coven." I announced her proudly and watched as she was folded into a tight hug by the woman and kissed quite thoroughly on the cheek by the man. He taunted me, quite crudely, in his mind as he kissed her. He was hoping for a reaction, I gave him none. Let the games begin!

Because of Eleazar's own gift he relished meeting newly made vampires. Like Carlisle the slightest chance to learn something new was always welcome.

"Let me have a look at you dear child." He asked grandly, reaching for her hands. He held them in his own and looked her up and down. "Such a beauty." He taunted me verbally; again I did not give him the satisfaction of biting, though I wanted to, badly.

"You'll enjoy meeting the itty bitty one Eleazar, she's a looker, like her mother." Emmett announced, coming to stand with our small group.

"Ahh, the newest and most illustrious Cullen. When will I have the pleasure?" Eleazar asked smoothly.

"Illustrious Eleazar? I hardly think that's fitting. She is but a few weeks old." I chuckled at his grandiose choice of words.

"Believe it, friend. Our world is abuzz with news of her arrival. I can assure you of that. There are many wagers being enacted around your little one, what her gift will be, having come from such powerful stock as yours young Edward." He tilted his head towards me in a gesture of reverence.

"Powerful." I snorted.

"You will not be disappointed Eleazar, she is quite astounding and her gifts are many and varied." Carlisle crowed, the good grandfather as he came to shake hands with Eleazar and to kiss Carmen's cheek. "It is so good to see you old man." He chuckled.

"We were sorry to have missed the recent gathering, boy." Eleazar was fond of teasing Carlisle about his 'lack' of age. Eleazar was somewhere in the realm of a thousand years old although he couldn't be sure of the exact time frame of his creation. Records simply weren't kept at that time and the date just wasn't an important enough thing to bother writing down that often.

"You are here now Eleazar. Come, I want you to meet Mary, she had an unusual gift that I doubt you've come across before." And with that Carlisle bore them both off to be introduced.

The Italian entrance was much understated compared to that of the Irish. Aro, Marcus, Renata and Nathaniel said polite hellos to all who were gathered in the living room. They made their way to where Bella and I stood near the dining room archway and I watched with interest as Nathaniel enveloped my Bella into a tight hug.

"Congratulations on the birth of Renesmee." He whispered to her as he kissed first her right cheek then her left.

"Thank you so much Nathaniel and thank you for coming all this way for her." She told him sweetly before repeating it all over again for Aro then Marcus and then again with Renata.

While everyone was busy catching up I dragged Bella outside. I pinned her up against the siding of the house out of sight of the living room or the dining room where our guests had spilled into for lack of room.

I kissed her hard, holding her still with my body. "Mine." I growled onto her swollen bottom lip.

She fisted my hair between her fingers and pulled me closer, "All yours Edward." She agreed before she sucked my tongue into her mouth.

I groaned, loudly, when she shifted her weight and pressed her hips up to meet mine. Every male in the house, who wasn't related to my wife already, wanted her. Randall was hardly trying to mask his thoughts and they were less than innocent. I was so jealous my sight was tinged red. "You're so lovely, they all want you." I growled irrationally into her ear as I licked the shell.

She giggled, obviously not believing me. I pressed my hardness into her further and snarled against her lips, "They do but you're mine."

"Only yours." She agreed, pushing up into me. She wound her fingers into my hair and pulled my mouth back to hers.

I knew we had to stop, for several reasons, one of which was steadily growing in my jeans. I'd take her here even though we'd be heard, if we didn't stop now. Another reason was that I was beginning to hear Renesmee's thoughts as she came awake. "We have to stop Bella, I don't want to, you know that, but Nessa is waking up love." I told her and kissed her once more on her soft, plump lips.

"I don't want to go in." She pouted, using her fingers through the gaps between the buttons on my shirt to hold me to her.

I allowed her to pull me to her once again. I even let her push her tongue between my lips, when she bit down on my tongue I groaned. "You have to stop that now...god Bella...this will be the longest night if you don't...Jesus..." I couldn't help the low moan that accompanied the broken sentence because she chose that moment to slide her hand down between us and cup me through the straining material of my pants. I extracted her hand, kissed her fingers and scowled at her playfully. "Come on woman, if we don't get inside now Nessa will be twelve before they meet her." I laughed.

She was still giggling as we flew up the stairs to our suite.

**BPOV**

"Mommy...mommy...new smells...daddy...daddy...daddy..." Nessa was whimpering for us as we came into the nursery. She was clenching and unclenching her little fists at us as we hovered over her crib.

Edward reached in and scooped her up while I got her clean clothes laid out for her on the pale pink changing table.

"Yes there are new smells little one. There are lots of new people here to meet you tonight." He told her as he lifted her onto the table.

I began to peel her little footed suit off while Edward held her hand and told her not to worry about the visitors. "She's asking where Seth is." He told me and I had to smile. A few short days ago that would've bothered me, greatly, but now it made sense. She needed him near her to soothe her while all the new people checked her out. I knew how she felt. I didn't really like being the new toy either.

"He'll be here in a few minutes little love. I promise." I told her, knowing Seth would arrive after his dinner.

"Can you hear them Nessa?" Edward asked her.

I slid the little pink dress over her head and rolled her to her side to do up its buttons.

She screwed up her little face and concentrated on the sound floating up the stairs. She turned her face to me before she told us both that she could hear lots of new voices.

"Here for me, daddy?" she asked Edward uncertainly.

"Yes my darling. They all want to meet you, to see just how beautiful you really are." He told her indulgently.

"No biting." Nessa giggled and I couldn't help but join in.

"That's right little one, no biting." I laughed.

Edward was chuckling lightly too, "You can bite me." He whispered conspiratorially to his daughter, who reached for his hand and pulled his thumb into her mouth. When he said his expected 'ouch' she giggled softly and I sighed. They were so gorgeous together.

"She'll have them curled around her fingers in seconds Edward." I told him as we went out into our suite.

Seth arrived just as we came to the bottom of the staircase. He ran to my side and looked down at Nessa. I gave them a moment, Nessa reached for his chin automatically and he let her show him what he'd missed so far today, which hadn't been much seeing as she'd slept through all the arrivals so far. When they were finished catching up I turned back to face the room and looked up at Edward. I smiled and nodded, letting him know he could do his 'thing'.

"Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to our daughter, Renesmee Carlie Masen Cullen." He said proudly. "Also, some of you know this lad here, but for those of you who don't, this is Seth, Nessa's Seth." He looked to me as he said it and I knew why. He didn't want to hurt me by telling all those gathered that our daughter wasn't really ours, but at the same time he wanted to make sure they knew that Seth was a part of our family and should be afforded the respect that deserved.

I smiled and mouthed 'I love you' to Edward. He closed his eyes minutely and returned my sentiment by kissing my on my shoulder and whispering his love in my ear.

Then we were surrounded by grasping hands and happy vampires all eager to have a hold of, and get to know, our daughter. The women surged forward, eager to get their first look, first smell and first touch of our little miracle.

"She's so lovely." Maggie crooned.

"Look at those curls!" Mary admired.

"She's such a beauty, you're so lucky." Siobhan gushed.

I relinquished my hold on her to Charlotte who drew Nessa to her breast and sat with her on the sofa only to then be surrounded herself by the other women. None of whom had ever had a chance to be so near to a baby I'd wager.

For half a second I worried that her scent would overwhelm one of them but Alice had assured me that she'd seen this meeting going well. Edward had also assured me that she smelled no different to any of them than she did to us, which wasn't tasty. So we stood, hand in hand, including a trembling Seth, and watched as our daughter enthralled her newest fans.

Esme hovered like a true grandmother while Carlisle stood off to the side with the men, none of whom had taken their eyes off the little pink bundle since we'd come down the stairs.

Nessa's eyes travelled from one woman to the next and back again as she tried to take them in. It was loud in the room and it must have been strange and frightening for the little girl but she did so remarkably well. She was handled and passed from one to the next, then back again, over and over until Nessa spotted Edward out the corner of her eye and she began wailing for her daddy. He strode to where she was, in Alice' arms and he took her from his sister and held the squirming baby firmly to his chest. "What is it my little love?" He asked as he bought her to his lap on the sofa.

She squinted but said nothing out loud. She reached for his hand automatically and he, just as automatically, gave it to her. His thumb was between her teeth in an instant. When he made his hurt sound she giggled and their game began in earnest as the room fell silent.

Edward looked up and found my eyes in the crowd. "She was just a little overwhelmed, needed a moment." He said proudly.

Nessa hadn't made a move to 'show' anyone anything yet but I knew it was only a matter of time before she did. Edward leaned over the back of the sofa and motioned for Peter to come and meet his daughter. The lanky Texan slid down into the seat beside Edward and the baby was passed across into Peter's lap.

"Well hello there ma'am." Peter drawled, just like Jasper. "Well, aint you a pretty little miss. You're papa is gonna have a hell of a time when the boys come a callin." He laughed and Edward grimaced.

Seth growled. Oops.

Peter looked to Seth and then to Edward. "Oh, right. Sorry. Didn't think." He nodded to Seth who calmed noticeably.

Rosie came to stand beside me and I nudged her as Nessa reached out her hand to touch Peter's face. "Wait for it." I laughed as Rose caught on.

As predicted Peter jumped about a foot into the air, straight backwards and away from Renesmee. With wide eyes he sucked in a breath before saying, "What on earth was that?" quite loudly.

Alice began to giggle uncontrollably. "The look on your face Peter, that was priceless. Come on everyone, come and sit in the dining room, let Edward explain."

The whole time people were moving into the adjoining room Alice' trilling laugh could be heard over all the conversations. She was still giggling when she took her seat in front of where Jaz stood.

The dining room had seating for twelve, but not for the twenty-four adults and our one little baby. The only vampires seated were the women, there were thirteen of us not including Renesmee, but I was going to stand with Edward to help explain anyway. So when all the men had found a place to stand along the back of the room Edward began.

With his gorgeous crooked smile plastered to his face he began to educate the crowd on our beautiful daughter's talents.

He demonstrated her intelligence by asking her to point to various vampires she'd only just met, most of the time she actually echoed Edward's request in her clear, careful speech. It was hard to say what astounded our guests the most. Her ability to correctly point out newly acquainted vampires or the fact that at three weeks old she spoke as though she was ten.

Next he explained that he could read her just as clearly as he could anyone else. I sniggered and he squeezed my hand, knowing what I was thinking for once, but he went on regardless. He told them all that despite Alice having some difficulty 'seeing' her very clearly yet he could read her perfectly. Alice explained that she had a similar, though not so limiting difficulty 'seeing' other supernatural beings and hybrids too. Nathaniel asked if she could see him any clearer than she'd been able to on his last visit and she proudly proved that she could by telling him the name of his current girlfriend at home in Italy. He smiled widely and to loud applause said that he was quite smitten with the young girl.

Demonstrating Nessa's ability to project her memories onto others was a little more difficult. The only way to do it was to essentially treat our daughter as a circus act and ask her to perform over and over. Of course Peter had already had a turn but that still left seventeen vampires who were all keen to see for themselves my little girl's abilities.

"It will be quicker, and easier on her, if we do this in pairs." Edward announced. "Sweetheart, can you show Nathaniel and Aro your new room upstairs please?" He asked her sweetly.

I'd not thought to try her touching more than one person at a time but from the casual tone of Edward's voice he was already quite sure it would work. He was right, of course. I could tell by the looks on both Nathaniel and Aro's faces that she'd been able to show them the same thing, at the same time, by merely touching their cheeks with her chubby little fingers.

"Incredible." Aro whispered as she closed her eyes at the end of her memory. "And she showed me that via her touch?" He asked Edward, who was nodding proudly.

"Sweetheart, would you please show Mary and Charlotte your room at the cottage next?" Edward asked her with a soft kiss to the top of her head.

He walked with her to the edge of the table and then he leaned her over so she could reach out both her hands to touch the women who sat side by side.

Charlotte's whoop of joy told us all that Nessa had once again been successful in showing two people at one time her memory. "You have a very pretty room little one." Charlotte told Nessa with a smile.

Another collective gasp came over the room when Nessa smiled widely back at Charlotte, her little teeth glinting in the overhead light.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, she's got teeth." I chimed in to another round of laughs. "She likes to bite Edward, like she did before, but she likes to bite him best because he says ouch better than the rest of us."

Edward winked at me and moved around the table until he was in front of Kate and Tanya. "Ok my little love, can you show our cousins how mommy laughs?"

Renesmee reached out her hands and both Tanya and Kate leaned forward to receive her touch. Tanya began to twitter as Nessa showed her what Edward had requested. "Thank you Nessa. Your momma has a lovely laugh." She winked at me over Nessa's head and I threw her a smile.

"And she can recall anything you ask of her Edward?" Kate asked as she let Renesmee's hand go.

"We think so, yes. Providing she's seen it for herself first of course. She's not doing what Alice can, seeing things that will happen ahead of time, or before time for that matter. She's only recalling things that have happened specifically to her, or with her involved or in the room at the very least." He explained.

"Me next." Liam called. "Will you ask her to please show me her memory of this conversation Edward?" He asked.

Edward chuckled, "I don't need to ask her Liam, you just have. Go on little one."He moved to where Liam stood and waited while Nessa rested her hand on his chin.

"Thank you little lady." He said to Nessa, and then he turned to me. "She's incredible Bella, Edward. She does you both proud." He bobbed his head to each of us.

Edward beamed. "She is incredible." He kissed her on her head once more and looked around the room to see whom he'd missed. "Randall, Garrett is there anything you'd like to see?"

Randall cocked an eyebrow and said, "Well, if the little one has any images of her mother naked..." Edward's growl cut him off but made everyone else break out in laughter. "Okay, well, I guess she can just show me her dad growling just now if she likes. That okay with you?" He asked Garrett who just laughed and nodded.

Edward raised his eyebrows to me and all of a sudden I had an idea what Edward meant by rogue. He wasn't quite so eager to put his daughter close to Randall as he had been with the others but he moved between the two men and then he asked Renesmee to show them daddy growling just now.

Their wide eyed reaction told us that she'd managed to get it right once again. They were suitably impressed and Randall did apologize to both Edward and Nessa before Edward moved on again.

Marcus and Renata asked to see Nessa's memory of meeting Carlisle and Esme for the first time and a collective sigh was had when Renata gasped in pleasure at what Nessa showed her. "Oh Esme, you're so lucky. A grandmother!" She cried.

"Nana-me!" Nessa cried, clenching her fists towards Esme. In a blur Esme was out of her chair and standing beside Edward. She reached for Nessa and Edward deposited the wriggling child in her arms.

Esme nuzzled the baby's neck and inhaled deeply. "Sweetheart." Esme crooned into her granddaughter's cheek.

Edward came to stand by me again. He grabbed for my hand and I squeezed it tightly. "Is she okay Edward? Is she tired of all this yet?" I asked.

He concentrated hard on her for a moment and then he dropped my hand and went to where Esme sat with her. Leaning over he kissed her curls and spoke quietly, "Can you show us some more darling? You don't have to, but daddy would like you to, if you can?" he asked her carefully. His beautiful smile told us all that she'd do anything her father asked of her.

Maggie was sitting beside Irina so they became the obvious choice for Nessa's next request. "Can she show us her favourite memory Edward? Or do we need to ask something specific?" Irina asked.

"I don't know. Bella, do you?" He turned to ask me but I shrugged. "Nessa, can you pick something you'd like to show the ladies or do you want daddy to ask you to show them something?" He asked her. Again she smiled. "She says she knows what she wants to show you."

This time she leant out of her grandmothers arms and the two women held her little hands to their cheeks. It was obvious she was eager to show them whatever it was she'd chosen as her favourite memory. Edward's gasp told me it was something interesting. As Nessa shifted in Esme's arms, moving back so she was once again against her chest Edward tilted his head down so she could see his face. "Is that really your favourite memory little one?" He asked. Nessa's smile said it all. Two neat rows of tiny white teeth and a little giggle to match.

"What did she show you?" I asked, dying to know.

Irina turned herself so she was facing where I stood and with a soft smile she said, "She was lying on a bed, the two of you were leaning over her. She opened her eyes and Edward gasped, said she had your eyes. You said she had his hair and then you laughed together. Saying how lovely she was. It was amazing." She smiled at the end, a gentle and warm smile. "You're so lucky." She said to us both.

"We are." I agreed, smiling at Edward who was looking at me now too. He mouthed 'I love you' and then he scooped his daughter up out of Esme's arms and went to stand by Eleazar and Carmen.

"For you Eleazar? Is there something you'd like to see?" He asked.

I wondered if Edward had kept Eleazar for last for a reason and I could see now that he had. Eleazar was the vampire who could quantify her gift for us. What he'd make of Nessa was important to Edward.

The older vampire seemed to think on it for a moment before he answered. "Can she show me something she's learned?" He asked tentatively.

Edward's smile was both smug and utterly heart stopping. "Old man, you've read the thought from my mind, surely?" He teased. Tipping his head down so Nessa could see him clearly he asked her for one more memory. "Last one baby girl, you've done so well, we're all so proud of you. Let's show the old man something you've learned, shall we?"

Eleazar snorted a chuckle out before allowing Nessa to touch first his then Carmen's cheek. Almost instantly Eleazar's brows creased in the centre and his face was transformed from smirk to scowl. It was as though he was concentrating very hard on what Renesmee was showing him, as though he didn't believe it.

Edward began to hum, it sounded so odd, so out of place. Everyone turned to face him, to see why he'd chosen that moment to begin humming, but no answer was to be found on his face. When Renesmee withdrew her hand from the faces in front of her she turned her face upwards to meet her father's gaze. She closed her eyes once then settled back into his chest with a contented sigh. "Yes my love, you did very, very well." He crooned, kissing the top of her head.

"More play daddy." She whispered.

"Yes darling, more play, later." He agreed. Now I knew what she'd shown Eleazar.

"She is astounding Edward. And you taught her that in this past three weeks?" Eleazar asked.

"No, I did not. You saw for yourself Eleazar, she was just lying in my lap while I played." He answered smugly.

It made so much sense now and I was sure that our theory was correct. She could be taught this way. I knew what Nessa had showed them but everyone else was stock still and silent, oblivious to what had just happened. "Edward, please tell the other what she's shown them."

"Oh, sorry, yes. Two, maybe three days after Nessa was born I had her in my lap while I played at my piano. It seems she has been able to retain that information, pitch correct I might add, and she's just shown it to Eleazar and Carmen." He whispered to Nessa next, "Remind daddy to rework the legato between and second and third lines, it should read as staccato." With a little giggle my little girl bit down on her father's thumb. "Ouch you little monkey." He feigned pain and was once again rewarded with her little giggle.

The crowd was totally silent as they watched their exchange. The man and his daughter, lost in each other. It was as if the rest of us didn't exist. From silent conversation to an understanding of complex musical technicalities, then switching back to a well rehearsed childish game. It was as thrilling to watch as it had been from the first day she'd arrived to us.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, it was a lot of fun to write. I am really enjoying Edward and his child. If you are too, please review. If you hate it, please review. Thank you in advance. **


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 – Defects and Defence

14.

**EPOV**

It wasn't until Carlisle cleared his throat that I realized I'd been so totally wrapped up in Renesmee and had been ignoring our guests. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to be so rude." I told them. "But as you can see for yourself she's quite the distraction."

She was taken from me then. The women swooped on us and extracted her from me so fast I didn't even have time to say goodbye to her. They whisked her back into the living room and formed a circle around where they sat on the sofa. She looked like a tiny prophet, propped up against the back of the sofa holding court. Of course she didn't say a word but her thoughts told me she was enjoying their attentions. Each woman had a turn to stroke her curls, each commenting on their softness, the bounce, the colour so like my own. Nessa registered each woman's personal scent and matched her name to it as though she was making a family tree, putting each woman with each male as necessary.

The men began to file out of the dining room and stood in another circular formation, this time beside their mate or coven members. Each was intent on watching the tiny girl in front of them even though she did absolutely nothing at all. She just sat primly, propped up by Alice on one side and Rose on the other.

I looked to find Seth and found him sitting on the bottom step of the staircase, his head in his hands. I searched his thoughts trying to find what was bothering him. I went and sat beside him. "I'll bring her to you in a moment, give you a few minutes to speak, and then I think you should head to bed." I told him. He wasn't upset, just tired. And missing Nessa's touch. After all, this was his time with her. Friday nights he could usually spend hours with her and he'd had to share her all night tonight.

"Okay." He said quietly. He wasn't happy with the plan, but knew it was how things were going to have to be for a few more days.

I found Bella in the crowd and told her of the plan. She nodded her agreement and returned to her conversation with Siobhan and Maggie.

I extracted my daughter from her aunts and took her to Seth. I put her in his lap and left them alone, returning to the sofa and taking a position next to Liam and opposite Carlisle. I kept a little of my concentration on Seth and Nessa whilst still participating in the conversations around me. Nessa showed Seth a recap of the evening and even though he'd been right there when it had all occurred he was more than happy to relive it with her. Her touch calmed him, soothed him and he was soon much happier. He kissed her lightly on her tiny cheek and bought her back to where I sat.

"Good night everyone." He said as he headed off to the guest room.

Nessa was taken from me again, this time by Tanya and Kate. They bore her off to their circle that included Renata and Irina as well as Esme and Mary.

I stood watching as they too brushed Nessa's curls and cooed to her softly. I felt Bella's hand slip into mine as I watched the scene before me. "She's enjoying herself." I whispered.

"It certainly seems so, look at her smile." Bella replied proudly. "You did well, explaining it. I think you quite enjoyed yourself." She giggled.

"I did. I'm terribly vain and proud." I tried to sound modest but failed. "They all have so many questions. It will be a very busy few days for us I'm afraid."

"I figured it would. We have to go through all this again tomorrow, don't we?" She asked.

"We do, though with a smaller group. Only ten vampires. I doubt Phil will want to join us for this part." I chuckled darkly. I hoped he was smart enough to be on that plane of his own accord tomorrow.

"I don't think he will either. He'll come to the christening but he won't stay and he won't say much. He's only coming because they threatened him, isn't he?"

I didn't know what to say, I didn't want to lie to her but didn't want to hurt her with the truth either. "You'll have to ask Emmett and Jasper that, I wasn't there." I thought it was a rather diplomatic answer.

"Right, like they'll have trouble lying to me!" She laughed. "It doesn't matter Edward, if he comes I'll get to see him and he'll get to meet Renesmee. After that I don't care what he decides to do. I'm surrounded by people who love me and so is she. She won't want for anything either way."

"Quite correct Mrs Cullen." I told her, pulling her to me. "Our beautiful daughter is fading quite quickly Bella, we need to get her home and into her bed soon. I have invited Eleazar and Carmen to stay with us at the cottage, with your permission of course?" I asked.

"Of course, I assumed you would. He'll have the most questions, won't he?"

I slid my arm around her waist and pulled her back to my chest. I inhaled her hair and let her scent flood my nose and mouth. I wanted her, as ever. "He will. He's also the only one I can think of who can actually tell us if you are right about her learning capabilities. I'd like him to spend some time with her, get to know her, he'll be able to tell us." I told her.

She wrapped her hands over my arms at her waist and held on tightly. "Okay Edward, that's fine. I am a little disappointed though." She whispered.

I turned her in my arms and looked into her eyes. "I can't think what about my love." I said truthfully, dipping my mouth to hers and taking her bottom lip between my teeth to rescue it from between hers.

She kissed me more deeply, letting her tongue caress mine. I couldn't help the groan I let out, making Bella pull away a little and laugh. "I was hoping we'd get a chance to finish what we started outside."

"Ahh, I see." It clicked for me, what she meant, "I have an evil plan Mrs Cullen. Do you trust me?" I asked her with a wink.

"Always Edward." She purred.

**BPOV**

He let me go but kept my hand in his, bringing my wedding rings to his lips. He kissed them leisurely making sure to nip at my knuckles the way he knew I liked. He gripped my hand tightly and took me to where Carlisle stood speaking with Liam and Eleazar. "Sorry to interrupt Carlisle, but Bella needs to hunt. I'd like to take her now. We can't go once Nessa is in her crib at the cottage. Can the baby stay here until we return?" He asked with a straight face.

Even I could see the silent conversation that passed between father and son. Carlisle chuckled lightly but said nothing about his suspicions, or our motives. "Of course Edward. Take your time." He said in his normal speaking voice while turning to face me and winking quite openly.

I was about to gasp but Edward gripped my hand and pulled me out the backdoor without looking back. I couldn't help but giggle when we hit the trees at the river and began to really run. It was such a bald faced lie, that I needed to hunt, and Edward hadn't even blinked while he'd told it. To Carlisle of all people!

Okay, so hunting wasn't a bad idea. It had been a while and there were going to be humans around tomorrow, so I could eat, but I didn't 'need' to.

"Do you want me to find us something Bella?" Edward growled against my throat when we pulled to a stop in a little clearing a few miles west of the cottage.

"Yes." I managed to gasp. He let my skin go from between his lips and then sped off to our right. Before I had a chance to see what his unfortunate prey had been he was calling for me. "Come." He called.

He was on the open ground, a deer at his knees, its neck broken. He held out his hand toward me but I still approached cautiously, as I'd been taught. "Come." He said again, showing me the neck of the beast and his desire to share.

I got onto my knees opposite him and then I bared my teeth, showing him my intent to share his kill. I pierced its skin and began to drink, never taking my eyes off Edward. When he was sure I had begun to drink he too leaned over and bared his teeth. A deep, rumbling purr came from his throat as the warm liquid flowed out of the animal and into his mouth.

The deer was soon spent and I rose to my feet once I'd had my fill. I didn't need as much anymore, and not quite so often either. The carcass laid between us now, Edward on his feet as I was. He was looking at me intently across the body, his eyes not straying from my mouth. I could feel the trickle of blood still lingering there and I wondered if I should use my finger to remove it or if I had time to change if I used the hem of my shirt. I moved to pull my shirt from my waistband but Edward flung himself across the carcass and crashed into me, holding me by the shoulders tightly. "Stay." He growled. "That's mine." He lowered his lips to mine and drew his tongue across the blood. "Tell me what you want Isabella." He growled again.

I threw my arms around him and held him tight. "You Edward, just you." I told him.

**EPOV**

I took her back towards the trees and laid her down in the soft, wet grass and had my way with her. As it always was after sharing the hunt it was frenzied, messy and loud. My need for her was animalistic in its very essence. I wanted to possess her, to mark her and to dominate her.

The act itself was quick by our usual standards. I tore her jeans a little in my haste to get them off, her jersey was stretched at the hem from where I'd dragged it up her body too roughly to get at her breasts. I just couldn't help myself. I pulled her to me and plunged myself into her without regard for what she wanted. I was about to apologize when her thoughts came to me.

_'I'm yours...tell me you're mine...'_ Her voice inside her head was gruff, demanding, and forceful. She needed from me what I wanted from her.

'I'm yours... only yours...you're mine...only mine...' I told her, feeling my pleasure heighten as she moaned and writhed beneath me. The feel of her soft, warm skin on mine, her legs wrapped around my waist, her hands pulling on my hair...it was all too much for me. 'You need to cum for me Bella...cum for me...now.' I rasped out against her lips, begging her to cum for me so that I could follow.

My name burst from her lips as she came undone beneath me. Her climax ripping through her, urging me towards mine. "MINE!" I roared into the night air as I erupted inside her. "Mine." I said more softly against her mouth. "You're mine Bella." I whispered as I kissed my beautiful wife.

We lay in the wet grass for a while, neither willing to give up the connection we sought so often. Eventually I had to withdraw and we both moaned at the loss of contact.

We did our best to dress but knew we'd have to head back to the cottage to change before going to the house to collect our 'celebrity' daughter.

**BPOV**

We earned a few knowing glances and the odd snigger when we returned to the big house but not a soul said a word about our change in appearance. Esme placed a sleeping Nessa into my arms and told me that she'd been asleep for over an hour. "Nobody wanted to relinquish their turn to hold her so we just passed her around." Esme beamed.

"She'll get spoiled." I teased.

"Hopefully." Esme whispered before lightly kissing the sleeping baby at her temple and wishing us a goodnight.

Some of the guests had gone out, or back to their hotels and some had just gone into the forest to be alone with their mates while we'd been away.

I held Nessa on the return trip to the cottage and Edward and Eleazar flanked me with Carmen walking beside her mate. The two men spoke about Renesmee's gift all the way home. Carmen and I listened intently but said nothing, preferring to take in all that the two men said instead.

When the cottage came into view Carmen began to murmur how lovely it was. She was a very quiet, unassuming woman. She was much taller than me but she wasn't very imposing. She was motherly, like Esme. She blended into the background when in a crowd and preferred to let Eleazar speak for them both, if that suited her.

While I tucked Nessa into her crib and kissed her goodnight Edward showed our guests into our bedroom, letting them stow their two small overnight cases beside the dresser. Edward and I would be spending our night on the floor in front of the fire in the living room.

Both Eleazar and Carmen protested, saying that they did not want to force us out of our marital bed, but we'd insisted. I really was, quite truthfully, looking forward to a quiet night in front of the little fireplace.

As it was it was 3am before our guests excused themselves for bed. We'd spent a lazy hour in the little living room discussing Nessa's gift. Not in any detail and I didn't learn anything I didn't already know about it, but it was nice to talk to someone about it all the same.

Eleazar asked dozens of questions and posed many tests and experiments that could be undertaken in order for us to learn more about her.

As our guests were retreating down the hall Edward reminded them that our friend Seth would arrive at first light.

"The werewolf?" Eleazar asked with raised eyebrows.

Carmen grinned knowingly and asked if this particular wolf was Nessa's imprint and Edward looked to me before saying that yes, Seth was Nessa's imprint.

"Esme has told me about this." Carmen continued. "How lucky for the precious little one, to be able to grow with her intended." She said quietly before bowing slightly and going down the little hallway to our bedroom.

As Edward tucked me into the crook of his arm I thought about what she'd said. After a little while, maybe ten minutes or so, Edward asked me what I was thinking about so intently.

"She is lucky Edward. She will grow up with Seth. They'll grow up together. I guess I'm only sorry we didn't get to do that, even though I've felt like I've known you my whole life anyway."

Edward sighed but said nothing. Instead he kissed me slowly, softly and tenderly.

He made love to me silently again that night. Right there in front of the fireplace in our cottage. It was the sweetest most intense coupling we'd shared so far and as we were unable to put voice to our love we used the only means of communication we had, our thoughts. As it had been the day we'd found out I was pregnant we used that connection to say all we could without being overheard. We pledged ourselves to each other over and over, reconfirming our commitment to each other and doing all we could to ensure our mate knew the depth of the other's love.

When light began creeping into the living room, illuminating the walls and floor with orange stripes of sunlight, Nessa began to stir in her crib.

Both Edward and I went to her that morning. We kissed and hugged her tightly, telling her good morning and letting her show us what we'd missed form the night before.

We bathed her in the little tub in the main bathroom and then we dressed her in another little footed pink suit. Edward dried her curls and brushed them until they shone.

By the time our guests had showered and emerged from our bedroom she'd been fed and was contentedly biting her father's fingers as they sat on the piano stool.

**EPOV**

"Seth's coming Bella. Two minutes from the west." I told her as she began stuffing her camera gear into its little bag, ready to take to the big house.

"Okay, I'll be ready when he gets here." She called to me from our room.

Eleazar was eager to speak with Seth. We'd told him all about the wolves of course, but other than Seth he'd not met any of them. I stood with Nessa in my arms and went to the front door to greet Seth.

He fell on her and she reached for him as I transferred her weight to his hands. "Thank you." He smiled up at me before turning his attentions to Nessa once again. He took her and sat with her on the sofa while our guests looked on. "Hey there little one, show me what I missed last night."

Immediately Renesmee held out a hand for him to guide to his cheek. He closed his eyes when she did and I watched as she began to replay for him what had happened after he went to bed.

Our guests stood in the archway and watched the scene unfold before them. The wolf and his mate. Nothing could've distracted either from the other as they relived the night before. "She doesn't like it when he's missed something." I told them.

"I wondered if I might have some time to discuss Bella's gift with you both?" Eleazar asked out of the blue.

I balked, what did he mean? Surely he knew now that Bella couldn't read me any longer? "I'm sorry Eleazar, I don't know what you mean. Bella was only able to read me because of the baby. That's gone for us now."

He merely smirked and then looked first from Bella then to me. His thoughts were well guarded from me. "You mean you don't know?" He asked teasingly.

"You are well aware that neither of us has the slightest idea what you mean Eleazar." I chuckled along.

Bella came to stand beside me, she was trembling slightly. Of course I couldn't say why that was. She could just as much have been excited as she was anxious.

"Why don't we leave Seth and Nessa to catch up and we'll talk outside a moment, yes?" Eleazar asked. He led us through the door and out into the little front yard. He turned to face me with a smug grin. "Oh young Edward, I've finally managed to come at something without you having already defined it! It is truly a grand day to be a vampire Carmen dear!" He beamed at his wife who smiled back and began patting his arm to bring his attention to Bella. "Oh, dear Bella, do not be alarmed. Forgive an old man his games. You're a shield my dear. And a good one too by the feel of it." He said matter-of-factly, as though it should've occurred to us all long before now.

Bella's trembling doubled, if that were possible. "A shield?" She asked.

"Come now, Edward! If I can't get a read on her, I doubt you can either. Can you hear her thoughts right now?" Eleazar asked.

"No." I answered. "But I've never been able to do that. Even when she was human."

"Never?" Eleazar blinked rapidly. "Interesting. That would indicate a rather powerful talent, if it was manifesting itself so clearly even before the transformation. I can't feel a way through her shield to get a sense of it at all. Yes, she must be raw still – she's only a few months old." He chuckled darkly. "Astonishing that you haven't experimented with it at all, but of course she is totally unaware of it herself, aren't you dear?" He asked Bella.

"I'm a shield? There isn't something wrong with my brain then?" her eyes were so wide she looked about ready to fall on him in relief.

"No my dear, it's hardly something wrong. It's a powerful defence mechanism. Anything that protects the bearer we call a shield. Tell me, does Alice see you in her visions?" he asked.

"Yes, she's always been able to see Bella." I answered for Bella who was gaping at Eleazar, quite unable to take in what was being said.

"And our friend Jasper, what of his talents?"

"Always and quite effectively." I answered again.

"The others? Maggie? Mary?" He asked.

This time Bella answered, shocked out of her thoughts more than likely. "We haven't tried." She gulped, a panicked expression flitting across her face. "What can they do to me Edward?" She clutched at my forearm in terror.

I gripped her hand tightly and stroked her shoulder with my free hand. "It's okay Bella. Remember? We talked about this. They can't hurt you love. Maggie can detect lies, remember? So unless you've lied to her she has no reason to use her gift with you. Mary heals, remember? You aren't human or animal and there is no reason for you to be healed, so again no reason for her gift to be needed. It's okay love." I soothed. I knew how frightening all this was for her. Neither of us had any inkling that her mental 'silence' could've been a gift, but now that I did it made a lot of sense to me.

"So it's a mental shield. Interesting and more than a little ironic." Eleazar mused.

"Ironic? How so?" I asked.

He chuckled while he thought how best to explain and as soon as I'd seen him decide on the words he wished to use I put out a hand to stop him. He creased his brow and faltered, stumbling over the first few words. "I've been sent..."He pulled up in time to keep this line of thought to himself.

"Perhaps another time Eleazar?" I asked, hoping he'd catch the inflection in my voice. "Bella has enough to think about for now. Shall we go up to the house, love?" I tried my hand at simple distraction and it worked.

"Let's." She mumbled already going back inside for the baby.

**BPOV**

I didn't have time to ponder whether or not my defect was in fact a gift.

I knew as soon as the first sounds travelled toward us by the river that Saturday was going to be a long, rough day for me, and sadly for Nessa too.

As much as she'd enjoyed showing off her gift with the help of her father the night before I was worried that she'd be bored and unhappy at having to do it all again today, albeit for a different group of vampires.

The house was teeming with them when we arrived, even though it was only 8am. What was more interesting was that each of them was busy.

Alice had replicated the set up we'd had for our wedding only this time it was done in pink instead of silver. Pink chair covers with darker pink sashes, pink table cloths on the round tables, dark pink napkins with silver rings holding them tightly bound sat at each place setting and the entire area was once again covered with a gigantic white frothy tent.

Instead of a red carpet the 'aisle' was laid with a white one and at regular intervals stood plaster columns that I assumed would be bulging with pink flowers tomorrow morning. At the head of the aisle stood a dark mahogany lectern. To the left of it was a smaller pedestal with what looked like a marble birdbath perched on top of it.

The decking had been shrouded with another tent and underneath its billowing canopy stood the same type of jukebox we'd had the night of our 'private dance'. The only difference this time was the lack of seating on the decking. With so many vampires in attendance I assumed the dancing would go on for hours, if not for days, because they wouldn't need to rest. We'd need the room!

Our party stopped where the tent met the lawn. The hive of activity was riveting. Alice stood like a general, waving and muttering to her soldiers as she pointed and checked off a clipboard in her hand. Her minions scurried about like worker bees being directed by their queen.

"No little one, Aunty Alice isn't cross, she just wants everything to be beautiful for your big day tomorrow." Edward bent over towards Nessa, who was being cradled in Seth's arms.

Alice turned towards where we stood, Eleazar and Carmen strode towards the house, trying not to make eye contact with Alice and be assigned a job by the looks of things. "You lot come inside and get to work will you." She pointed her pen at the four of us and I began to giggle.

"Yes sir, ma'am, sir." I saluted her as I ran past and into the house.

She pulled Seth up and dropped a kiss onto Nessa's head but then began yelling at both Seth and Edward to move faster, which Edward promptly ignored and then punctuated his displeasure at being ordered around by flipping her the bird. She launched the pen at the back of his head with startling accuracy.

"You'll pay for that, wench." He snarled playfully but kept moving into the house, coming to join me in the living room with the other prisoners of Alice's war.

"Good morning all." He called to all and sundry, eliciting a round of hello's and one sprightly 'gidday' from Randall. "Who needs my help?" He asked.

"Up here bro." Emmett called form somewhere on the third floor.

Edward was gone, up the stairs, before I could blink. I wished I could do the same. I figured the furthest point away from Alice would be good at this point. It was not to be. Charlotte stuck her head around the archway from the dining room and beckoned me in. "Do you want me to take her Seth?" I asked, but I thought I already knew what his answer was likely to be.

"You can if you want Bell's, but I'm okay with her too." He said rather diplomatically I thought. He looked like a fish out of water. The lone wolf amongst the vampires. He was hesitant to even come into the house properly.

I went to where he was standing, just inside the backdoor. He had Nessa on his hip so she could see everyone as they moved about the house. I took his free hand from where it hung beside his body and I squeezed it firmly. His eyes flew to mine in surprise. "I know you're okay with her Seth." I smiled as nicely as I could, hoping to show him that I was okay with him being here with her, with us. "Come on in, I want to introduce you to everyone properly." I told him.

He returned my squeeze and let me guide him into the dining room. "Thanks." He mumbled.

I took a very large breath before speaking, "Everyone, you remember Seth, Nessa's Seth?" I said as clearly as I could so there would be no mistake. Like Eleazar and Carmen last night all those present needed to know that Seth was special, not only to Nessa either. No matter how it made me feel to say the words, I had to say them. She was his as surely as I was Edward's. "Seth I know you met a few of our guests last night and a few you'll remember from the wedding, but come and meet some new faces." I waited until he came into the room properly and took a seat, putting Nessa in his lap primly. "This is Mary and her mate Julian and this rogue is Randall." I pointed them out individually and waited until Seth had shaken hands with the men and been greeted by Mary before I pulled out a chair for myself.

"A rogue, am I?" Randall asked a sly grin on his face.

"Oh, you know you are." I teased.

Everyone greeted Nessa warmly and as I looked around the table a stack of papers were put in front of me and instructions were shouted at me from General Baptism Nazi out in the yard on what I should be doing with them.

**EPOV**

Emmett and I stood stock still while we listened.

Bella went to Seth – who was holding Nessa – and spoke very carefully and quietly. My heart burst with pride for her courage. I knew it had to still hurt her, to admit to Seth that his holding our daughter was okay. I knew for a fact that it would've torn at her insides to announce him as 'Nessa's Seth', but she'd done it all the same. I wanted to fly down the stairs and crush her to me, to tell her how proud I was of her, to tell her thank you.

_'That was fucking amazing, she's totally brilliant Ed.'_ Emmett said it with real emotion although it was thought rather than said, probably in an effort to maintain his caveman persona.

I nodded to show him that I'd heard and agreed. "Good, now, what do you need me to do?" I asked as he ushered me into the nursery.

_'I don't want no part in all that shit down there dude, don't tell Alice.'_ He chuckled despite having only thought it. _'I've bought this closet insert thing that looks complicated but could be put together by any old human. We gotta look busy if Alice comes looking for us.'_ He thought.

I spent a leisurely hour arguing with him about slot A needing to go into hole 3B and not into 8D. I was about ready to tell him to fuck off and do it himself when he threw down the screwdriver he was holding and announced that he had to be getting to the airport to collect Phil.

I grimaced. "And if he's not on the flight?" I asked.

Emmett just shrugged. _'It's two hours to Seattle if we take the Veyron, four and a half hour flight, half an hour to his house, then the return trip. I figure we'll be back by three tomorrow morning, all going well. Either way he'll be at that fucking christening dude.' _His cackles echoes around the small nursery, making it sound that much more sinister. "He'll be on the flight Ed, don't worry." He said out loud.

"If you say so Em." I doubted he would be but I also knew my brothers wouldn't hurt him even if he wasn't. Despite their threats to him previously they wouldn't hurt him because that would hurt Bella. So, if he wasn't on the flight I had no doubt that my brothers would indeed fly to Phoenix and retrieve him, but I also knew they wouldn't harm him in order to get him here in time.

Jasper, accompanied by Alice, stuck his head in through the door to collect Emmett. They bumped fists with me and then they were gone.

"I've seen it Edward, he's on the plane. He's not happy about it, but he's on the flight. Stop worrying." She giggled.

"Good, that's one less problem." I agreed.

"You should come downstairs now, in about twenty minutes the Egyptian's and the Amazons will arrive en masse." She said this quite tentatively, as though this was hardly something to look forward to.

"What aren't you telling me Alice?" I demanded, my mind already preparing for trouble.

"Hear me out first, panic second, right?" She cringed, waiting for my nod of agreement. She tilted her head to one side and stared at me while she showed me her vision.

The Egyptian's and Amazons arriving, en masse as she'd predicted, no problem there. Introductions all round, again no trouble. Ahh, then I saw it. Amun, ever mistrustful of things he didn't understand and that was about to include my daughter. His abrupt manner was going to first upset my wife and then his refusal to let Nessa touch him, and the way he expressed it, was going to frighten my daughter.

"If I say nothing and let it unfold?" I asked and returned to watching her vision.

"I can't see a lot, Seth is there remember. But I can show you the reactions of the others." She told me, closing her eyes and letting the images flood her senses.

Bella was sat on the sofa with the baby in her arms. Amun greeted her quite cordially though he didn't extend a hand to either her or who I assumed was Seth, sitting in the blank space beside Bella. Bella sat rigidly but said nothing, her expression showed me she was, by then, not a fan of the visiting Egyptian. When Amun turned his attention to the baby Bella looked to the blank space beside her, Seth, and her face grew both grim and afraid. Amun denounced the baby as a witch and within seconds the room had erupted into violence. I assumed Seth would phase, judging by the reactions of those in the room. I didn't need to see anymore.

"The blank space, that is Seth?" I asked her.

"I still can't see him, but his actions cause reactions in others, those I can see." She agreed.

"Okay, any suggestions?"

"Seth, you need to warn Seth. Go now Edward, before you run out of time." She squeezed my shoulder and I felt her fingers glide off me because I was already running out the door.

* * *

**A/N: Things are beginning to heat up. Some hints and clues as to who the bad guys are going to be this time are creeping in. Edward is back to keeping secrets, which always get him in trouble with Bella. Let me know if you think I'm heading in a good direction. **


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – The Christening – Part 1

15.

**BPOV**

Edward ran down the stairs and stopped in front of where Seth sat. "Seth, son, I need a word."

He didn't wait for Seth to reply, he simply strode out of the house, via the front door, Seth following closely behind.

Alice came down the stairs and sat beside me, taking Nessa into her lap. I'd heard their conversation upstairs but I knew that most of it would've occurred in one or the others head, effectively blocking most of it from me.

I knew Edward well enough by now to know that if I needed to know he'd be the one to tell me. So I figured I didn't need to know this. Alice, however, thought differently.

She didn't keep her voice low but neither did she advertise the fact that we were about to have a serious conversation. "The Egyptian's are about to arrive. Amun is going to be rude to you and mean to Nessa. She'll get a fright but she'll be fine, I promise. Seth will phase if Edward doesn't explain it to him first. He's taken him out of earshot to do just that. There's nothing to worry about if Seth stays calm. He'll need to sit with Nessa while this happens. Can you let him have her?" She asked me carefully.

"Okay, if you say he needs to have her, he can." I looked down to Nessa, who had taken all of this in and had a worried look on her face. I had to do this very carefully, explain this in a way that she'd be able to understand and to take the sting out of it. With one last deep breath I tried my best, "It's okay little one, nobody is going to hurt you. Daddy is going to bring a nasty man to meet you. He doesn't like little girls, but that's okay isn't it, because everyone else loves little girls so much!" I tried to put some fun, an easygoingness into my voice that I didn't feel at all, hoping she'd relax. She did. "Good girl Nessa. Seth's going to hold you while the nasty man meets mommy and then we'll go back to having our fun, okay?"

"Okay mommy. No biting." She smiled at me and showed me her little teeth and both Alice and I sighed in both amazement and relief. The room around us had gone quiet while I'd had my talk with Alice and now all of the others were staring at me, their mouths agape. I presumed this was because of the story I'd just told the baby, or possibly her response.

There was no time to find out because all of our other visitors and the rest of the family came into the living room and took up positions in various chairs. Some sitting on the stairs and others simply leaning against walls. But they all came to show their solidarity and I was so very grateful. "Thank you, all of you." I told them quietly. There were a few murmurs of agreement but otherwise the house became curiously quiet while we waited for the newest arrivals.

The crunch of gravel announced the two vehicles quite loudly amongst the silence and as Seth and Edward came back into the house, from the backyard though they'd exited via the front door, I relaxed a little. Seth took his seat beside me and after I'd taken Nessa from Alice and kissed her little cheek I handed her to him when he reached for her. "I'm fine Bell's, I promise." He whispered and smiled.

Edward came to stand behind me, his hand resting lightly on my shoulder. His fingers began to stroke the nape of my neck gently, soothing me as nothing else would or could. I tipped my head backwards and met his gaze. "Ready?" He asked in a hushed voice.

"Of course." I gave him as wide a smile as I could and he instantly returned it.

'I love you' he mouthed. I winked and then turned back to face the front door.

**EPOV**

Without Emmett and Jasper here I felt a little off balance. I was so used to having the back up of my brothers in situations like this that I missed them profoundly as I watched Carlisle usher our newest guests into the foyer.

Animated greetings were held as Amun and Benjamin came into the living room first. The Amazons followed a little ways behind but being a group of three women they hung back with the Egyptian women, waiting to be introduced more formally.

Benjamin and Amun followed the outer circlet of vampires, shaking the hands of the men, kissing the cheeks of the women. They came to a stop in the centre of the room and I waited for Carlisle to begin the introductions for those who had not met before. These were, after all, Carlisle's guests, not mine.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet our friends from Egypt. This is Amun and his mate Kebi. This here is Benjamin and his mate Tia. These lovely ladies here are Zafrina, Senna and Kachiri and they've come all the way from the Amazon Basin to meet our little Renesmee." He said warmly as each of the Amazon women began to make their way around the circle shaking hands. "I'll let you all introduce yourselves to our newest guests as they come around." He told everyone as he took his place next to Esme.

I watched as the ladies made their way through the crowd without incident. Of course they knew some of our guests, it was after all quite a small world. Others they didn't know but they made their acquaintance quite politely.

I kissed the three towering women in greeting and had great pleasure introducing my wife and child and then Seth to them all. Friendly greetings were had and then they moved on to the next group, the Italians.

The Egyptian's, however, were a different matter entirely.

Kebi stood behind Amun at all times. She neither spoke nor made any move to shake hands or embrace anyone she was introduced to. In stark contrast to her was Tia. She made loud and happy introductions for herself with the gathered crowd as she moved behind Benjamin.

When their group was assembled in front of us Amun ignored Bella completely but shook my hand. Benjamin reached between us and also took my hand, his handshake was much more freely given, his thoughts were only of friendship, how happy he was that I'd found and married my mate.

"Edward, it is good to see you again, friend." He told me before he turned his gaze to Bella. "And this is your new wife?"

"Yes, Benjamin this is my wife, Isabella." I announced proudly.

He shook her hand very formally and told her how happy he was to meet her. This was in stark contrast to Amun who stood rigidly before us. Kebi said nothing and made no move.

"Amun I'd like to introduce you to my wife Isabella." I nodded to where Bella sat but Amun ignored her entirely, choosing instead to focus on Seth. "Seth, this is Amun, head of the Egyptian coven. Seth is our friend and Nessa's mate."I told him firmly, making my acceptance of Seth quite forthright.

"A wolf?" Amun demanded, quite shocked.

"Indeed." I answered without hesitation. "What better protection for ones child?" I said without a hint of sarcasm for I truly believed it. "And this is my daughter, Renesmee."

Benjamin leaned over and shook Seth's hand, as every other vampire in the house had done. He did it without issue, without malice and with the real pleasure that comes from meeting someone new, regardless of who or what they are. He smiled down at the baby in Seth's lap and whispered his hello to her.

Amun ignored Seth as he'd ignored Bella but looked down quizzically at Renesmee. He wanted to ask what she was, vampire or human, but thought better of it at the last moment. I was desperate for him to just move along, to go towards the Italians and let the rest go, but it was not to be.

Renesmee reached out a hand towards Benjamin who didn't hesitate to take it in his. His face became instantly shocked as Nessa showed him her room at the cottage. She thought this was expected of her, as it had been the night before. I wanted to laugh but instead I watched as my daughter showed this formidable vampire the zoo animal mobile she loved so much.

She let her hand fall away from his when she'd finished the retelling of the memory and he looked to me, eyes wide. "She is gifted." He stated simply.

"She is." I said proudly. The entire house was silent as every mind in it – including Bella's I'd have wagered – held a collective breath waiting for Amun to begin his tirade.

We didn't have to wait long.

"What did she do to you Benjamin?" He roared, startling both Bella and Nessa. "Has she harmed you? Do not let her touch you again." He bellowed.

"She showed me her possessions Amun, no more. Let her show you, she means no harm." Benjamin said evenly.

Amun took a long step back toward where Seth held the baby, he leaned over and stared into her tiny face. She smiled, showing him her teeth. She was thinking that the others always twittered when she did that, she didn't know why this man wasn't.

He turned his angry face to mine and squinted his eyes as he spoke. "You have produced a witch! She has bewitched these fools!" He moved his hand around the room as if to encompass everyone in it with his statement. "I will attend this baptism as you have requested Carlisle, but perhaps you should ask your preacher to rescue this child from its evil."

And with that he moved to the outer edge of the circle, nodding his head to Kebi who quickly scurried to his side. He was done. He'd say no more.

I put my free hand on Seth's shoulders and felt him relax a little. _'Is that all he's got?'_ The trembling wolf asked me in his thoughts. I gave his shoulder a squeeze again and he turned his relaxed attention back to the wriggling baby in his lap. "Did you show Benjamin your pretty room little one?" He nuzzled her neck and kissed her forehead as he asked, calming her more effectively than I could have, simply with his touch.

**BPOV**

The tension in the house was only broken when our final guests arrived. Alistair, Charles and his mate Makenna were introduced to me as the European nomads and they were wonderful!

Makenna turned out to be as much fun as Charlotte and the Denali girls. She was tiny, like Alice, and was as much a livewire as she was too. Although her thick French accent made it difficult for me to understand even half of what she said. It could've been the speed with which she said things, but mostly it was the accent.

For the nomads benefit Edward took Nessa back into the dining room and introduced her to them and allowed them a look at her gift. The Egyptian's and Amazons attended too, although Amun, of course, would remain untouched during the display.

While they were busily throwing up experiments for my daughter – who performed each task with a smile so bright she nearly matched the sun – I was taken aside by Alice and informed of my duties for the following day.

I was coached on where to stand, what to say and when and then I was showed the newly restored christening gown. I had to be quiet, it was still a surprise for Edward, but I did well showing Alice how much I loved it.

By the time Alice and I descended the stairs and moved back into the living room the show and tell performance in the dining room had finished and the gathering had moved outside into the front yard as the numbers simply wouldn't fit comfortably inside the house any longer.

Nessa was perched on her grandmother's hip, a proud smile on Esme's face. Edward was talking with Alistair and Charles. Seth was with Nathaniel, Randall and Benjamin and they seemed to be getting along very well judging from the laughter coming from their little group. I joined the animated grouping that included Zafrina, Mary and Makenna. They were talking about Nessa's gift and discussing how nice it would be to possess such a gift themselves.

"Your gifts are similar." I told the striking woman. "Edward says you can project images while Nessa can project memories."

It was as though the towering woman was concentrating very hard on me and I wondered what it was she was trying to do, read me, show me something or simply work me out. With a flourish she threw her head back, a wild motion that startled me a little. "You are a shield, yes?" She asked.

"So I'm led to believe." I giggled. "What were you trying to do to me?"

Alice came and stood beside me then. "Did you really not seeing anything just then?" She asked eyes wide with interest.

"Nope. What did you want me to see?" I asked the very worried looking black woman.

She smiled, her extremely white teeth gleaming. "Nothing harmful dear child. A rainforest, some birds. Did you truly not see them?" She asked astonished, and I wondered how many people were able to 'block' her visions.

"Not a thing, sorry." I told her truthfully. "Seems I muck up a lot of gifts."

With all the excitement of discovery I'd not heard Edward come back to my side. He swept my hair aside and brushed his lips against my neck and whispered, "Some gifts are private." I turned and smiled back up at him, knowing exactly to which of our gifts he was referring. He took Nessa from Esme and I looked down at the exhausted baby. She slumped against his chest and closed her eyes. "Renesmee needs to sleep for a little while. I'm taking my family home for a few hours. We'll see you all again this evening." He announced firmly.

"Seth?" I asked, looking around to find him for myself.

"He's already running home Bella. He'll come back tomorrow morning at the usual time." Edward told me. "Come on love."

"I'll see you all tonight. It was so nice to meet you all." I told the new visitors as Edward led me around the house and towards the river.

**EPOV**

We ran home, an already sleeping Renesmee against my chest. I slid her into her crib and she snuffled softly, snuggling down into her blankets happily.

"Do you want to practice our talents Isabella?" I asked cheekily. I didn't wait for her to reply, I simply pulled her out of the room with me and down the hallway towards our bed. I stood beside it and pulled her to me. I smothered her mouth with mine.

With a long satisfied groan she sucked my tongue into her mouth and pulled me harder up against her glorious body. I could feel the heat emanating from between her legs and I knew she wanted me too. I wrapped a long, thick rope of her hair around my wrist and tugged her head back. I assaulted her neck and collarbones with my lips, my tongue and then my teeth until she was whimpering in my arms, her knees buckling under the weight of her pleasure.

Without saying a word, which was becoming our daytime ritual while the baby slept, I took her with me to the mattress. I laid her down amongst the pillows and began to worship every ounce of her skin. I pulled her shirt aside and began with her tattoo. I sucked it into my mouth and felt the inky black letters swell as her desire built.

As she arched her back I slid my hand underneath her and pulled her shirt from the confines of her jeans. With it free of the waistband I pulled it off over her head, exposing her bare breasts to me.

"Jesus Bella, you were bare under that this whole time?" I gasped.

"No saggy boobs for me Edward, ever." She giggled.

I had hoped that Jasper and Emmett would be able to convince Phil to come to the house to see us before the ceremony, but my brothers returned alone.

Emmett sought me out in the crowd immediately and Jasper went to stand near Bella. "He aint happy, but he's here. We left him at the hotel. He wouldn't even go to Charlie's." Emmett told me quietly.

Jasper did his best to calm Bella's anxiety and while I knew she could hear our conversation I didn't feel the need to shield her from it. He was her step father, she had every right to know what he was intending to do. "Thanks Em. You've done all you can. The rest is up to them." I nodded to where Bella stood with a sleeping Renesmee in her arms.

"Did it go okay?" Emmett asked with a grimace and a look to where Amun stood with Carlisle and Liam.

"It went okay." I told him. I'd fill them in later, or the girls would tonight. Either way he wasn't going to be too happy that Amun had upset Bella and Nessa today.

General Baptism Nazi gave us a last rundown on the order of service just before we took our once again exhausted daughter home the night before her christening. Bella and I had a few precious quiet hours before Eleazar and Carmen returned to the cottage for what was left of the night.

By first light on Sunday morning the cottage and the main house were in full swing. There were many frantic phone calls between the two houses, as well as Charlie's, before we made our way to the gathering. Alice insisted that Bella and Nessa go up to our suite to prepare for the ceremony. I was not allowed to attend, I had no idea why. Alice was so busy directing traffic, and guests, that I couldn't get a read on her thoughts at all.

The others were either busy doing her bidding or busy trying to look like they were doing her bidding so she wouldn't wrangle them into further servitude.

There were no humans attending today who didn't already know what we were. Bella had opted out of inviting Angela and Ben, or having Pastor Weber officiate at the ceremony when I asked her how she was going to explain away us having had a child only a month after being married. So, we'd decided, together, to keep things simple and only invite those who already knew our circumstance. That took the pretentiousness out of the whole day. We could be what we were without issue.

Harry, Sue and Seth Clearwater were the first to arrive that morning. Esme greeted them all warmly and they were soon seen out into the backyard and into the white tent. Seth did very well introducing them to our extended family but he steered clear of making the further acquaintance of Amun. Admittedly Amun wasn't keen to be 'met' either. He stood off to the side, Kebi at his flank and stayed silent while our other guests arrived and were seated.

All I had to do was meet and greet guests so I stayed close to the front door during the morning. Each of the wolves arrived with their significant others, all of whom were well aware what we were and what their dates were. A pregnant Rachel Black shook my hand when I greeted her and I took from her thoughts her thanks for what I'd done for Billy. I hadn't met Brady's girlfriend Megan before and she was a little apprehensive about meeting me, but she was happy to shake my hand when we were introduced.

Carlisle took over the task of introducing the wolf pack to our vampire guests who'd yet to meet them and I listened intently as the greetings were made. Randall, of course, liked them all immediately and thought they'd be great to have around. He was soon busy planning some 'fun' with Paul and Jared, which could only end in trouble.

Billy Black arrived with Renee and Charlie and he too greeted me with a handshake. Charlie watched on with wide eyes as Billy greeted me by name and held my hand warmly. "It's good to see you Billy. Come on in, your pack is here." I told him as Charlie wheeled the chair over the threshold.

"Good to see you son. How are my girls?" Charlie asked, coming inside.

"They are perfect Charlie, just perfect." I told him truthfully. "They are up in our suite if you want to check on them Renee, I'm sure Bella will need some help getting Nessa ready." I told my mother in law who went straight up the stairs.

As soon as she was out of earshot Charlie turned to me and asked if Phil had arrived yet.

"Not yet, but he shouldn't be long." I told him. "Our start time is eleven and it's nearly that now."

"Good, good." Was all my father in law said. From his thoughts I could tell he was apprehensive about having Phil there and was hoping that the younger man would behave himself and not upset or embarrass Bella today.

"He'll be fine Charlie. Emmett and Jasper will make sure of it." I chuckled.

**BPOV**

My mother and mother in law were fussing over the baby which left me to my own devices. I let them dress her in her gown and do her hair any way they wanted. I wasn't fussy about the details, I just wanted her baptised.

I emptied Edward's satchel out onto our bed and arranged the myriad of gifts into neat rows. God parents gifts, grandparent gifts and Nessa's gift from us.

There was already a table set up downstairs, as there had been on our wedding day, and it was already overflowing with gifts for Nessa. She didn't need anything, but still everyone bought her a gift.

I could hear our guests arriving and knew when the wolves arrived because of their scent. I made out Billy Black who came with my parents and I could now smell the one unfamiliar human scent I'd been holding my breathing waiting for. Phil had arrived.

"Welcome Phil. Thanks for coming." Edward was saying at the front door.

"Thanks." Phil said sourly.

"Charlie is out the back with the other guests but Renee is upstairs with Bella and the baby. I can take you to see them, if you'd like?" Edward asked tentatively.

I wanted to laugh and tell Edward not to bother because I knew what Phil's answer was going to be, but Edward asked anyway. The answer was as I'd expected, a rasped 'no thanks' followed by the sound of the backdoor opening and closing and his scent leaving my nostrils.

I hadn't expected anything else from him so I wasn't that disappointed. I went into Nessa's nursery and told my mother that he'd arrived. To my astonishment she simply huffed and shrugged her shoulders and went back to brushing Nessa's hair.

Alice stuck her head around the door and asked if we were ready and I told her that we were except that I needed Edward and the godparents to come upstairs first. She was about to check her clipboard when she spotted the warning look on my face. "Okay, I'll go and get them then." She giggled and fled back down the stairs.

I asked Esme and Renee to please go and take their places outside and then I put Nessa into her crib, telling her that her dress was a big surprise for her daddy so she'd have to stay in her nursery for just a few more moments while daddy came upstairs. Then we could go and have the party. She clapped her hands and turned her attention to the row of stuffed toys on the dresser while I went back into our bedroom.

Edward kissed me softly and took my hand as he came into the room. He spotted the rows of gifts and I told him that I wanted to do this part before the ceremony. He agreed.

When the four godparents were in the room with us I took the pile of parcels and handed each of our siblings their respective gifts. "Thank you so much for agreeing to do this for us, for Nessa. It means so much to us that you'll be the ones to look out for her." I told them. "Go on then, open them."

Alice tore into the paper without hesitation. Of course she'd already seen the gift but her squeal of delight sounded genuine none the less. She held the tiny gold angel charm out in front of her and showed Rose who was pulling a chain with a gold cross attached to it from her own parcel. The two girls smiled and kissed us both, saying how much they loved the gifts.

The boys pulled their silver frames from the protective cases and both stared at them with wide eyes. I'd taken the pictures without either of them realizing it. Emmett had Nessa in his lap at the cottage one morning before work. He was leaning over her and she had her fist to his cheek. He had a goofy grin on his face and she was staring up at her uncle as if he was the most amazing person she'd ever seen. The love in both their eyes was clearly evident.

Jasper's frame held a picture of him with his niece too, but his was slightly different.

I'd captured Renesmee asleep on Alice and Jasper's bed. She was on her belly, her plump little lips slightly apart as she snuffled through her sleep. I had made her slightly less in focus in the centre of the picture and behind her, sitting on the window seat as usual, was her Uncle Jasper. He was watching her intently, concentrating hard on her and only her. Like Emmett's picture the love in his eyes was evident even to the casual observer.

The frames were identical in that they hinged down the centre, one side having the photos in them, the other a verse.

"What does yours say?" Emmett asked Jasper.

"Oh, right. I'll read it out." He said. "To my Godfather Jasper, I want you to know how lucky I feel to have a godfather like you. Someone who loves me no matter what I do. When I think of you I count my blessings and thank the Lord above that I have you for my godfather because godfathers are chosen with love. With all my love, Renesmee."

"Wow." Rosalie whispered. "That's really beautiful guys."

"Mine says the same, only it says Uncle Emmett, look Rosie." He held his out to show his wife and they both leant over it and smiled.

"I have similar ones for Carlisle and Charlie too." I told them. "But I'll give them theirs afterwards. We should be getting down now, I think."

Alice was all business then, directing us where we needed to go, where we needed to be. And then it was just the three of us left upstairs.

**EPOV**

"Will you sit here please Edward?" Bella gestured towards the sofa and I sat while she went to get Renesmee.

I wasn't nervous for today at all. It was a simple ceremony and the most difficult part would be relinquishing my daughter for another day to our guests. It felt such a long time ago since it had just been me and Bella at the cottage alone with her.

Bella came out of the nursery with a wriggling Nessa in her arms. The long christening gown flowed past Bella's knees and towards the floor in soft folds. It was ivory and was heavily adorned with lace. It looked oddly familiar, as though I'd seen it in a photo somewhere. "Was that yours?" I asked her as she placed Nessa into my arms.

"No Edward, it was yours." She whispered.

I looked down at the gown and saw just how old the lace really was. It was in good condition but you could see the wear and tear it had endured to survive this long intact. You could see darning marks in the fabric where it had been repaired and I knew at once that she was telling me the truth. Someone had gone to my house in Chicago and retrieved this so my daughter could wear it.

I took my eyes from the gown and sought Bella's. "Alice." She whispered.

"Oh my god." I mumbled. "That's why they went on the road trip."

Bella giggled and said it was. "Do you like it then?" She asked, wide eyed.

I pulled her to me and held our daughter between us and I kissed them both. "I love it. Now, let's go and get you baptised so we can have a party shall we ladies?"

Carlisle presided over the ceremony with deep pride. He was so proud to be the one to bring his granddaughter into the fold of the church.

My brothers and sisters took very seriously their pledge to watch over and teach my daughter, each of them making their verbal pledge with strong, clear voices when asked.

Our gathered guests cheered and applauded when the ceremony came to its end and their cheers and calls were renewed when Nessa sat up in Alice' arms and began clapping and cheering along with them.

She was kissed, patted and crowed over for hours and hours that day. She soaked it all up with aplomb, her little teeth evident in every smile she bestowed on her guests. She was passed from one to another by an endless stream of well wishers.

The one fly in the ointment was Phil.

He stood at the edge of the gathering with a deep scowl on his face during the ceremony and refused to join in the festivities once the ceremony was concluded. I saw him slip from the tent at the same time that Emmett and Jasper did. They held up their hands to me, silently asking me to let them deal with it. I listened as they exited the tent and found Phil, having a sneaky cigarette at the edge of the yard.

Though I couldn't see them I could hear them quite clearly. So could Bella. She came to stand beside me, slipping her hand into mine as we both stood and listened.

"You need to go in there and congratulate your daughter man." Emmett was apparently going to try reasoning first.

"I don't think so." Phil said belligerently. "She's not my daughter, she was only ever a step daughter anyway."

Bella flinched as he said it and I wanted to rip his fucking head off for it. She gave me a grim smile but said nothing.

Jasper was trying his best to calm Emmett and trying to instil some sort of enthusiasm for the occasion into Phil. It wasn't working, on either account.

"Ok, so she was your step daughter. Fair enough. You loved her as your own not so long ago and we know she still loves you dude. Don't throw that away." Emmett begged.

Phil's snort made Emmett bridle and I was about to step in when Bella pulled my arm rather violently. "Leave them alone Edward. They won't hurt him, but I don't want to force him either." And with that she went back into the middle of the tent and joined the circle of crowing women who were fussing over my daughter.

I looked to where she now sat and then back to where I'd seen Emmett go through the tent flap. I was torn. I hated the man for the way he'd abandoned Bella. But on the other hand I knew that she loved him and I couldn't truly hate anything or anyone that she loved. With one last check to make sure that both my girls were otherwise engaged I headed out through the same hole that the boys went through.

"Phil, walk with me." I told him as I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

"Fuck." He spat as my fingers dug into his flesh.

"You better fucking believe it." I told him. "I'll see you two back inside the tent in five minutes." I told my brothers who were both staring at me as if I was the anti Christ.

_'Bella will kill you if you kill him.'_ Emmett was panicked in his thoughts.

_'Let me help kill him, please.'_ Jasper was less panicked, more enthusiastic for what he thought I was about to do.

"We'll **both** see you back inside the tent in five minutes." I reiterated to my brothers, who both visibly calmed and headed back in to the party.

I led Phil through the tree line and into the forest. We walked for only a few hundred yards, far enough that I wouldn't be overheard, then I pushed him so that he had his back to a tree trunk. I took a deep breath and steadied myself for what I was about to say. He was trembling badly, his heart rate was rocketing as was his blood pressure. He desperately wanted to relieve himself, lest he pee his pants. I almost felt sorry for him, almost.

"Okay, this is how this is going to work. I've been more than accommodating with you Phil. I've given you opportunity after opportunity to do the right thing, you just can't seem to manage it. So I'm relieving you of the trouble." I told him.

"What do you mean? Don't kill me." He whimpered, cowering away from me.

I began to hear my brother's thoughts, the bastards had followed us into the woods. They were staying far enough away, hoping I wouldn't smell them. Neither of them thought they were close enough for me to 'hear' them. Idiots.

"I'm not going to kill you, Jesus, why is it always about the killing with you humans?" I chuckled darkly, quite pleased that he was so very frightened of me. I wanted him to believe I was a psychopath, one who was willing to kill pissants like him if he upset my wife and child. "It would hurt Bella if I killed you, plus, I suspect you'd taste like shit you evil little fucker." I taunted him by showing him the venom as it dripped off my teeth.

"Oh Jesus." Phil whimpered.

"Listen good Phil. I'm going to lead you back to the party and you're going to find my wife and you're going to tell her how wrong you were to leave her. You're going to tell her how much you've missed knowing her. You'll tell her how amazing she looks. How beautiful she is, how amazing our daughter is. How fucking lucky she is that she's got me in her life. If she asks you to lick the back of her heels you'll do it with a smile on your face. Are we clear Phil?" I stepped closer to him and waited until he nodded before I backed away again.

"I never said she wasn't beautiful." He mumbled, terrified.

It was enough of an admission to snap me out of my verbal rampage. I ran a hand through my hair and stared at the cowering idiot. He was thinking how beautiful she really was, how she always had been. He was running images of her as a younger girl through his mind and thinking how sweet she was back then. I was about to relent and apologize when his next thought came to me.

_'She might look good but she still got knocked up by a freak.'_

I snarled, letting the foamy venom fall from my lips as I stalked back towards where he stood. He began quivering again, realizing his mental mistake. He put his hands up in surrender, but I wasn't having it.

"I should rip you to shreds for thinking that." I taunted him, making him whimper and cower. "You don't deserve a daughter like her. She might be different now, but she loves you despite you being a motherfucker." I raged.

_'You hold the fucker down, I'll kick his ass.' _Emmett suggested mentally. I cringed.

_'If you let me come around behind I can take him without him knowing what's coming. You can plead ignorance if you must.'_ Jasper suggested, not helpfully.

I did my best to ignore my brothers. They weren't helping me to keep my resolve to remain in control. "This is the last chance you'll get at this Phil. I don't give a fuck if its lies but you go back there and you make Bella believe that you still love her, that you're proud of her and that the baby means the fucking world to you. You understanding me?" I was shaking with rage. I wanted so badly to just push him, just once. Maybe hold him down and punch him, just once.

He was nodding violently, his eyeballs rattling around in his skull he was so scared of me.

_'Aw shit dude, don't let him off the hook. Junk punch him, just once, for me.'_ Emmett was at the end of his control it seemed.

_'Fuck it, I'll clothesline the prick as he comes out from the trees.'_ Jasper was preparing his ambush as I led Phil back towards the yard.

"Stay put you pair of assholes." I roared into the forest, hoping they'd stay clear of both me and Phil until we were at least back in the tent and in the company of others who'd be able to keep us in control.

Phil's eyes were darting back and forth looking for who I was yelling at, speculating that I'd lost my mind. He kept muttering how utterly crazy I was, how glad he'd be to be getting the hell out of Dodge later tonight. I couldn't agree more, the sooner he left the happier I'd be.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you have found something of interest in this chapter please review and let me know, I love hearing how the story is evolving for others. If you hated it please let me know why so I have the chance to fix it. Thank you in advance. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – The Christening – Part 2**

**16.**

**BPOV**

Phil came back into the tent but I couldn't see Edward anywhere. I smelled cigarette smoke and knew that Phil had slipped out to have a sneaky one, like he used to at home in Phoenix.

I couldn't see Emmett or Jasper either, now that I looked around. I wondered what those three were cooking up. No doubt something embarrassing for someone.

The party was in full swing and murmurs were being made about beginning the dancing soon. There would be no speeches, no formal meal, and no toasts this time. Tonight would just be a good old fashioned celebration. Plenty of food had been laid on for the wolves and the humans in attendance and plenty of space and loud music for the never tiring vampires who loved to dance.

Nessa was curled up in Renee's lap having her afternoon nap when Phil came to find me. He looked hesitant, terrified actually, and I wondered why.

"Hello Renee, Bella." He said quietly, coming to stand between where I stood and where my mother sat.

"Hey Phil." Renee answered, never letting her eyes stray from the sleeping baby in her lap.

"Hello Phil." I said. "Thank you for coming." I told him.

"You're welcome." His voice quivered. He put his hands deep into his pockets and rocked on his heels. "You look good Bell's." He whispered as though he didn't want to admit it and be overheard.

"Thanks." I laughed lightly. It felt a little like a backhanded compliment to me. "You too."

He huffed. "So this is Renesmee? She's a beauty, you must be real proud." He said matter of factly.

"We are." My mother answered for us.

I watched a silent exchange between my mother and her soon to be ex husband and then I smelled Charlie's approach. Oh dear.

He came to stand behind Renee's chair, putting a possessive hand on her shoulder before planting a very deliberate kiss at her temple. He leaned over her and ran his hand over Renesmee's head lovingly. "What are you doing here Phil?" Charlie asked maliciously.

I almost choked on my shock. It wasn't like my father to speak like that, to anyone. I was about to tell my father to knock it off when I felt Edward's arms go around my waist. His lips felt cool at my neck as he kissed me.

"Well, isn't this nice? The whole family in one place." He chuckled darkly.

I snorted at the crapola my husband was sprouting and then I turned to my step father. "Would you like to hold your granddaughter, Phil?" I asked hopefully.

Phil looked to Edward briefly and then back down to Renesmee who was snuffling softly in Renee's lap. "Ahh, no, thanks, I'm good." He put his hands back into his pockets; apparently that was the end of that.

I could feel a low rumble in Edward's chest but before I could comment he let me go and nodded pointedly to my father, "Charlie, how about you come and help me get the wolves another round of drinks?" he asked diplomatically and at just the right time.

"Yeah, sure." Charlie huffed, "See you round, Phil." He spat as he moved between Renee and I and followed Edward to the makeshift bar.

Renee raised her eyebrows to me but said nothing. Instead she turned in her chair and went back to her conversation with Kate who was in the seat beside her. It seemed that Renee was done with Phil for the night. I almost felt sorry for him standing there having been so summarily dismissed. Almost, but not quite.

It was pretty obvious that Phil was nervous to be near me and I didn't want to make him unnecessarily uncomfortable so I was going to excuse myself and go and find someone else to talk to when Phil asked if he could have a private word, outside. "Sure." I told him and went first through the tent flap out into the fast descending night air.

He followed me across the lawn. I led us to the jetty and climbed up onto the top rail and began to swing my feet back and forth.

"I really am pleased you came Phil. Renesmee is amazing and she would love to get to know you." I began.

Phil looked uneasy and scared. He kept throwing looks back towards the tent, as though someone was watching him. He thrust his hands deep into his pockets and rocked on his heels before blurting out, "I'm sorry I left, I miss you and your mother. You look great and the baby is great. You're very lucky. You have a great life here. I'm happy for you. Oh, yeah, and Edward is brilliant, he's good for you."

It all came out in a rush and I could tell it was badly rehearsed and in no way heartfelt. He'd been threatened.

I shook my head a little and looked at the pathetic man who stood before me. He was quite obviously terrified, shaking badly, his hands clenched at his sides. There was a line of sweat beads on his brow and his eyes were darting back and forth between me and the party. I laughed softly and let him off the hook, "Okay Phil. I can see that you don't want to be here, you don't want to know me anymore." I said quietly, jumping down off the railing and coming to stand in front of him again. "I'm sorry about that, I've always loved you. You were a good dad to me. I guess the old saying is true, it's your loss." I told him.

He was blinking rapidly, probably because I was standing so close to him. I was going to let it alone and just let him leave when a question occurred to me. "Hey Phil, can I ask, why did you choose to leave before, you know, when I was going through my change? Was it just fear or were you looking for an excuse to leave mom anyway?" I asked.

He licked his lip and wiped at his forehead with the back of his hand. "You scare the shit out of me. You aren't human. You don't even breathe! Every second I spent in that house I got surer and surer that it was wrong, they should've let you die." I tried not to flinch as he said the same words he'd said to Edward that night. He was being honest so I could hardly be angry with him, after all, it was me who'd asked the question.

"Renee and Charlie live here in Forks without a problem Phil. Hell, I've still got human friends. Nobody's been hurt, nobody's been eaten." I chuckled darkly thinking there could quite possibly be a first if he pissed me off any further. "They were scared at first too Phil, but they stuck around and got to know them, got to know me again and now they get to spend time with their granddaughter." I was pleading, I knew that as well as I knew he wouldn't be swayed. Edward was right, he'd made his mind up long before now and nothing would change it.

"That's not my granddaughter; it's Renee's and Charlie's." He said simply and for the first time in a long time I agreed.

"You're right Phil, _she_ is. Okay, you've said your bit. You can go home now. I won't bother you again; I'll make sure the others won't either." I told him before I began to walk back towards the tent.

I couldn't help but be disappointed. When he'd first sought me out at the party I thought he might actually be pleased to see me, but the way he'd spoken just now I could tell he'd been gotten to. He'd been coerced into saying his practised speech and he didn't believe any of it. He was here for no other reason other than because he'd been threatened and he'd spoken to me only so he could leave as fast as possible. As far as he was concerned he'd fulfilled whatever it was that he'd been told to do and that was it. I shouldn't be hurt or surprised, but I was, just a little bit.

Part of me hoped he'd rush up to me as I walked away from him, that he'd plead with me to reconsider. That he would tell me he'd been wrong, truly wrong and that he wanted to be a part of my life now that he could see how upset I was. But he didn't.

Emmett and Jasper were waiting at the tree line when I got back to the yard. They came to flank me on either side, both of them putting an arm around me. I knew that Phil was behind us, that he'd followed at a slower pace and that he could see and hear what was about to go on between me and my brothers. "Thanks guys. I take it it was you two who threatened him?" I asked. Neither of them said anything so I just assumed I was right. They each squeezed me then kissed a cheek each before letting me go and running back to the party.

For a split second I wondered how I'd feel if I called on my brothers to sort Phil out their way. I knew they'd do it, hell, they'd probably have fun doing it.

Before I ducked back into the tent I turned to where Phil was walking through the yard. "Phil!" I called out to him, making him stop in his tracks and turn towards me. "You're lucky it was those two idiots who threatened you and not Edward. He has a bad, bad temper when someone has hurt me. Goodbye Phil. Have a good life." I said and turned back into the tent and back to the party.

**EPOV**

The two boys fist bumped me on their way back into the tent and I happily obliged them.

_'You're off the hook, dude, she thinks it was us.'_ Emmett told me as he passed me by and headed for Rosie.

Jasper said nothing but cocked his head in the direction of the tent flap. I nodded and let him go back to the party.

Bella came to the side of the tent, her scent swirled towards me on the night air. I listened intently as she spoke to Phil. I tried my best to stifle my laughter as she slid back in through the gap, right into my waiting arms. I inhaled her hair and kissed her slender neck. "You are utterly delectable Mrs. Cullen." I told her, swinging her around to face the party once again. "Is everything alright, love?" I asked.

She giggled and twisted around so that her back was to my chest. We stood watching the crowd for a few minutes before she spoke. "Phil's leaving now. We won't see him again."

"Okay." Was all I said. There was no point getting into it, no point admitting what I'd done or how I'd done it. The outcome would be the same no matter what she believed. "Shall we dance Isabella?" I let her go, took a few steps aside and held out my hand to her.

She took it and bowed slightly. "Why thank you Mr Cullen."

We danced to two songs, back to back, before the urge to check on our daughter became too much for either of us. With a shared conspiratorial laugh we slipped in through the back of the tent to see who had her.

She was in Charlie's lap this time, propped up against his belly, facing her adoring crowd. Billy Black was leaning over in his wheelchair cooing at her as she clapped her hands for him. Emmett stood protectively to the side, one hand on the back of Billy's chair.

_'I've got this Ed.'_ He told me silently, as though I'd asked him to watch over her.

I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"What's so funny?" Bella whispered.

"Emmett." I nodded to where my brother stood and waited for Bella to get the joke. She screwed her eyes up and looked at me as though I was a madman. I laughed lightly and leaned down to whisper to her, "He's not standing there because the conversation is so scintillating, he's on guard duty." I chuckled.

Bella snorted with laughter and dragged me back out the tent and back onto the dance floor.

She moved so gracefully, not that she didn't before, but now her movements had a fluidity that took my breath away. Her laugh made my stomach clench. Her scent set my desire aflame. Her touch made the spark between us ignite. I led and she followed flawlessly. She swayed when I needed her to sway and she stilled when I needed her still.

I was aware of the thoughts around us, but it was also easy to ignore them as I twirled my wife round and round the dance floor.

We were being surreptitiously watched by many eyes but I felt completely insulated within her embrace.

As the last strains of the song finished I dipped my wife low in order to kiss her soft lips and the thoughts of those around us began to once again infiltrate my consciousness.

I put Bella's hand in mine and led her back to the tent to check on the baby and while we walked I looked around the area and matched the thoughts to the brains.

_'They're so lucky.' _Kate.

_'__Ainsi dans l'amour, un si beau famille.' _(So in love, such a beautiful family) Makenna of course.

_'Phil's gone and I'll have Renee all to myself, forever.'_ Charlie.

_'When can we open the presents?'_ Charlotte.

_'That wolf is lying to that girl, he's not going to buy her the diamond she wants.'_ Maggie. I looked to where she was staring, directly at Colin who was fumbling with the bra strap of Stacey, his date, as they kissed in a dark corner of the tent.

_'If I ask her to dance he'll have to let her. I can touch her at will then.'_ Randall. Bastard. He was staring straight at us so I knew he was thinking about my Bella. I growled softly and Bella stiffened beside me. I threw her a conciliatory smile and continued our walk through the tent.

_'You are wrong, my friend. You're thinking of the specific gravity of concrete when mixed with gravel. Portland cement is 2.37, imbecile.'_ Julian, in conversation with Liam.

I spotted Renesmee, sitting on the lap of Zafrina, the rest of the Amazon coven sitting either side. I pointed to where they were and steered Bella towards them. While Bella cooed and clucked over the baby I ranged my hearing out around us further. I had an uneasy feeling, someone or something was amiss.

Everyone seemed to be present and accounted for, in their own way. I'd seen Tanya and Aro slip out of the tent and past the tree line earlier but could still 'hear' them amongst the bushes to the north of the house. They were rather busy, so whatever problem I was anticipating wasn't going to emanate from them. Even Seth – who had a beer in one hand, which was something I'd speak to him about later, and a chicken wing in the other - seemed to be having a good time despite not being able to hold Renesmee all these hours.

I looked around, eager to find my sister and spotted her on the cusp of the dance floor speaking with Siobhan. I dipped myself down towards Bella and whispered that I'd be right back.

**BPOV**

I watched Edward stalk towards his sister and wondered what was up.

He'd been on edge for a good hour now, long after Phil had left and seemingly taken the tension with him. I'd noticed Edward scanning the crowd on and off and I wondered what it was he was hearing from them.

I let my attention wander from the group around me and I too looked around the gathered crowd to see what was amiss. Nothing that I could see, or hear. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Even Amun was stood talking with Marcus and I'd not seen Amun speak with anyone since he'd arrived.

Edward grabbed Alice by the elbow and they made their way onto the dance floor. It didn't even appear as if he'd asked her to dance, he just grabbed her and she went willingly. Nobody but me was watching so I assumed it was only me who saw the tension between them. The worried look on Alice' face and the concentration on Edward's as they had their silent word war told me a great deal.

"Mommy...pretty pictures..." Nessa trilled and I was forced to redirect my attention back to her.

"What did you see pretty girl?" I asked her in my best impression of an interested mother.

"Big water...pretty..." She told me and I looked to Zafrina who was smiling widely.

"A waterfall in Tanzania. Your child showed me her memory of swimming with her father at a lake, I have shown her a big lake also." She laughed.

Nessa began clapping her hands and giggled which enthralled everyone near her. It also gave me a split second of opportunity to look towards where Edward and Alice had been. They were gone. The dance floor now only held Charlie and Renee and Carlisle and Esme.

I closed my eyes and listened hard. They were around the side of the house, whispering furiously. I turned to give Nessa a kiss and make my way to where my husband and sister in law were now in furious discussion when Jasper appeared at my side.

"Care to dance little lady?" He asked politely.

"No thanks Jaz, not right now. Maybe later, okay?" I tried to put him off but he was having none of it.

He took my hand in his and gave it a light squeeze and while he stared me down he asked me again, very evenly, if I'd like to dance. His inflection was obvious. I needed to dance with Jasper.

"I'd love to, brother." I told him sweetly and let him lead me to the floor. The calm pervaded my every thought. My brain settled and the tightness in my stomach evaporated as Jasper used his considerable skill to instil a sense of serenity within me.

He gripped me tightly at my waist and swung us expertly around the dance floor. Halfway through the first song he began to whisper, "It takes a lot of work you know, being with someone with a talent like Alice'."

It was such an odd thing to say, so out of place for the occasion. All I could do was nod and hope he'd continue. He did.

"She'll see something and Edward will come running." He told me as he spun me out and away from his body. It still made no sense to me. "They'll closet themselves away until the solution presents itself and then the rest of us are allowed in on the plan." He said as I was pulled back in to his chest to resume the dance.

He was trying to tell me something but I wasn't quite sure what it was, yet.

"They work well together." He said, changing direction and taking me with him. "But it can be frightening and frustrating for the ones they love when we're left out of the loop." He whispered against my ear as he pulled me closer to begin the next waltz.

Now it made sense. I sighed. "Thanks Jaz. I'll be patient." I kissed him lightly on the cheek by way of thanks and he chuckled.

"Now, now ma'am. You keep that up and your husband will come a runnin and we'll have to end this delightful ballet." He swung me away from his body again and I couldn't help but laugh.

**EPOV**

"So what if he does Edward? What difference does it make? You haven't done anything wrong." Alice spat, twisting her arm out of my grasp.

I paced along the side of the house and ran my hands through my hair one more time. She wasn't hearing me. "Listen Alice, I know what I heard. Eleazar intends to go straight to the Romanians and inform them of Bella and Renesmee's gifts. That can't be a good thing."

"And like I keep telling you, Edward, so what if he does? There are probably thousands of shields out there and no matter how strong Bella's is it can only protect her, she's no use to the Romanians." Alice bargained.

I could see her point on that, but something felt wrong about the entire situation and that Alice couldn't 'see' anything made me uneasy. "And Nessa? Nobody's seen a gift like hers before, they'll want her for themselves." I rasped. The pain of that idea hit me full force in the chest.

"Maybe so, but for what end? They are thousands of years old Edward, they know more about everything than anyone else on the planet. What can a little girl teach them that they don't already know? I know you're worried but this time, this one time, I think you're wrong. They won't come for either of them because, as amazing as they both are, they simply aren't that special." She told me.

I had to nod in agreement. She was the rational one here, for a change, and she was right. "You're right. Sorry. Over reacting." I conceded. "Alright. I'll let it go. But you'll keep watch, right?" I begged.

She chuckled lightly and stood on tip toe to kiss my cheek. With a hand to my cheek she looked me in the eye, "Of course. I'm always watching. There is no threat here. Except for the one where...ohh...Edward, why do I see you holding Randall's head under water?"

I shrugged. "He keeps thinking about touching Bella. I can't help it." I admitted.

"Hmm. You should go back to the party then, rescue your wife from the clutches of her dance partner." She giggled but I was already gone. Running to the backyard to see who she was dancing with.

To my great relief it wasn't Randall.

I tapped Jasper on the shoulder and asked to cut in. With Bella back in my arms I instantly relaxed, the feeling of wellness beginning in my chest and radiating outwards until my entire body was worry free once again. I pulled her to me and kissed her temple. "Back where I belong." I whispered and began our dance in earnest.

"Is everything alright Edward?" Bella asked me with knowing eyes.

"Of course." I dipped closer and kissed her softly at the corner of her mouth.

The music increased in tempo and the song changed to a more modern one allowing me to swing Bella out faster and faster. Her laughter ricocheting off the surrounding forest bought spectators to the edge of the floor and I was soon being cut in by my own father.

"May I?" He asked, bowing slightly.

I couldn't refuse him. "Of course." I stepped aside. After all, it wasn't his fault I'd snagged the most beautiful woman on the planet for myself. I could relinquish her for one dance.

I watched for a few seconds as he led her around the outer ring of the floor. She smiled lovingly up at him, her eyes sparkling. I turned and spied a partner for myself. I held my hand out, "May I have this dance?"

"Daddy...daddy...daddy..." Nessa trilled as she reached for me.

I scooped her out of Esme's arms and held her in my own and took her out onto the dance floor. I held her on my hip, my arm around her waist and my free hand holding hers out from our bodies in the correct waltz position. She was giggling loudly as we swirled around the floor. When the song came to its end I dipped her low and kissed her perfect pink cheek. "You dance beautifully." I told her, making her giggle even more.

Applause rang out from the edge of the decking and I turned, still with Nessa in my arms, and we bowed to our adoring fans.

"More!" Nessa cried when the music began again.

"More? You want to dance some more little one?" I asked, preparing to begin the waltz again. When the music reached its fever pitch I bore her off around the perimeter of the floor once more, resuming our previous dance. She laughed the whole way round and the crowd catcalled and whistled each time we passed them.

**BPOV**

"He's so happy." Carlisle whispered as we danced past Edward and Nessa for the third time. "Thank you so much."

I smiled up at my father in law, "You are very welcome." I told him honestly.

My father tapped my father in law on the shoulder and then I was dancing with Charlie. He wasn't anywhere near as confident as Carlisle, but the moment was still a lovely one. One I thought would take me years to be able to have. His scent was strong tonight because it was warmer than usual, but the flame of thirst didn't rush its way up my throat as it had the last few months.

"It's been a great day Bell's." Charlie said as we came back to the beginning of the dance. "Did you have a good day too?" He asked.

"Oh yes, it's been perfect dad." I leaned my head on his shoulder and let him take me around the floor once more.

Our peaceful dance was soon interrupted by Garrett who bore me off in a much faster foxtrot, leaving my father to bring Renee out onto the floor to join us. Carlisle now had Renesmee in his arms, as Edward had. Edward was dancing with Renata and Esme had convinced Nathaniel to attempt the dance with her.

Other couples made their way onto the floor when the music once again calmed down into a traditional waltz. Edward sought me out and we were soon, once again, in each other's arms dancing around the little makeshift floor.

Seth came to take Renesmee from Carlisle and he sat her on his hip as he'd seen Edward do earlier. The four of us danced in a small square formation, Nessa's lilting laugh echoing into the night sky as the night closed in on us.

"She's getting sleepy, love." Edward announced at the end of a song. "Maybe we should think about putting her to bed?"

Seth looked first to me and then to Edward and then he bent down and asked Nessa if she was sleepy. With a little nod and a sweet little yawn she snuggled into his chest and closed her eyes.

I looked at Edward who was watching, enthralled. "Would you like to put her to bed Seth? I don't mind if you stay with her up there for tonight." I told him. His wide eyes showed me his shock but his matching smile showed me how happy that would make him. "Would that be okay with you Edward?" I asked my husband.

Edward put his hand on Seth's shoulder and told him that would be fine. "But, I'll need her for a few moments first." He slid his hands underneath our daughter and lifted her to his chest and took her back into the tent.

Seth and I resumed the dance. He was surprisingly good.

I could soon hear Edward making the rounds inside the tent, telling each group thank you for coming and that Nessa was being taken up to bed now. Nessa was kissed and patted by all and sundry and then Edward bought her back to Seth and I. I kissed my snuffling baby on the top of her head, told her I loved her and wished her and Seth a good night. A very proud Seth took his mate up to her room.

Edward and I followed, at a respectful distance, and listened at the top of the stairs of the third floor as Seth settled her into her crib. The soft creaking sounds of her rocking chair could then be heard as he settled himself down to watch her sleep.

We were about to leave and go back to the party when a soft tinkling sound came from the nursery. Edward gripped my forearm and nodded towards the open door, lifting his finger to his ear to ask me to listen carefully.

"Good night sweet girl. Happy baptism. I think that's what you're supposed to say anyway." A soft click and then another feint tinkling sound came down the hall as something was clipped onto the mobile that dangled above her head, the bells on the feet of the animals that hung from it emitting their usual sound and alerting us to what was happening. "I made this for you Nessa. It's a dream catcher and it will make sure you only ever dream the nicest things, like I dream of for you." Seth whispered before settling back into the rocking chair.

His uneven snores soon rent the top floor and Edward and I crept back down to the party.

The dance floor was filled with twirling couples when we returned, so Edward pulled me to him and off we went again.

The night was warm and bright, the stars twinkled in the heavens as my husband and I celebrated our daughter's special day. It was a perfect day.

**EPOV**

It would've been the perfect day had Randall not tapped me on the shoulder and asked to dance with my wife.

I'd been dancing with her for three hours so I couldn't very well deny his request, but I wanted to. I hadn't forgotten his thoughts earlier, or the day before either. I should've taken another partner from the women standing at the edge of the floor but I couldn't tear my eyes away from them as he took her around the floor.

At each corner of the floor he faced me and each time his eyes met mine he taunted me with his thoughts.

_'She's stunning Ed.' 'She's hot Ed.' 'She's a goer, Ed' 'I bet she goes off in the sack hey Ed?' 'I do love a MILF' _

On and on he went as they danced around and around. He was laughing and smiling down at my wife the entire time, so I knew he wasn't meaning to be malicious, he just wanted a certain reaction from me.

I was doing my best to ignore it and just watch calmly, but as his taunts became more and more vulgar I could feel my resolve slipping.

The crunching sound of the railing timber giving way under my fingers alerted Randall to just how close he was to being annihilated by me.

He danced them over to where I was stood and he bowed low to Bella who giggled lightly and thanked him for the dance.

He clapped me on the shoulder, "Sorry mate. Didn't mean to rattle your cage. I was just muckin with ya, no offense." He said in his usual twang and then he was gone, off to find someone else to bother.

I pulled Bella up to my chest and inhaled her hair. I closed my eyes and let her scent flood my senses. "Mine." I whispered and waited until she echoed my declaration before I captured her lips with mine and kissed her thoroughly.

_'So very possessive that one.' _Marcus was laughing to himself as he strode past Bella and I and went down the side of the house, Renata on his arm. He had plans to possess his mate also, so I joined in with his laughter.

"We'll see you before you return home won't we Marcus?" I called after him.

He turned on his heel and strode back to where we were stood arm in arm. "Oh yes, we'll see you tomorrow, at some point, I'm sure." He winked and then he was gone again, as was Renata. They were a mere blur as they hit the trees running.

"Randy old bastard." I mumbled into the corner of Bella's mouth.

"I much prefer the randy young bastards myself." She giggled and slid her hands into my hair and pulled me tighter in to her.

Well fuck me!

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. I do hope you are enjoying these lighter-hearted chapters. Things will remain slightly family orientated for a few more chapters and then the fuller implications of Eleazar's big mouth will be felt. Please review if you have something to share. **


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Bon Voyage

17.

**EPOV**

"Alice loves those things!" Jasper yelled at Randall. "But they smell awful."

"Oh I know. At home they are revered but I hate the bloody things. That smell isn't just horrible to us either, every living thing hates the smell of Koala." Randall agreed with Jasper's appraisal of his national animal.

"Do they really drop out of trees and attack people?" Peter asked with wide eyes.

Randall's booming laugh echoed around the tent, "Nah, that's a myth. They are pretty slack beasts at the best of times. I reckon they are actually nature's piñatas, but don't say that near other Aussies, they get a bit narky." He winked at his audience who had no idea what narky was, nor really what a koala was, but we all laughed none the less.

Randall leaned back on his chair and rocked on the back legs, swinging his arms over the backrest casually. Cocky bastard. He was like a trained seal, performing for the crowds at SeaWorld, and the group was eating that shit up!

I looked around and took stock of who was left.

Sam and Paul were still knocking the beers back at one table and Embry had his girlfriend Maia in his lap at another. The other wolves had all headed home but Jaz had begged these three stalwarts to stay and let him soak up their 'drunk' so he could project it once again onto willing participants.

Those who didn't want to play had gone inside, leaving a select group outside in the tent.

There was still a small group of women at a table at the far end of the tent and Bella was deep in conversation with Eleazar at another single table near the lectern. She was picking his brains about her shield. She was eager to know what it all meant, what she could and couldn't achieve with it and Eleazar, for the most part, was happy to teach her all he knew. I had wanted to warn him to hold his tongue with regard to the Romanians but Alice had stepped in and asked me to leave it alone, that no harm could come from Bella spending time with Eleazar.

I still kept one ear on their conversation just in case. I didn't know what the 'just in case' entailed I just knew that I wanted a peaceful life and that didn't include my wife worrying about those two old bastards who sat on their thrones in the North.

Renee and Charlie were snoring loudly from the guest room. Only Seth's snores were louder than Charlie Swans.

Marcus and Renata had failed to materialise once they'd gone for their 'run' into the woods and Maggie and Garrett had begged off the festivities and decided to take a run of their own not long after the Egyptian's retired to their hotel for the evening.

What surprised me most was the continued disappearance of Tanya and Aro. A more unlikely pairing I'd never seen. But then again, my daughter was bonded with a wolf so I guess anything was indeed possible.

The few male vampires left had shoved the tables aside and pulled together a few chairs, sitting in a large circle so Jasper could see us. Nathaniel, Peter, Julian, Randall, Emmett Jasper and I made up the coalition of the willing as Jasper liked to call it.

Unlike the night of my party we were all feeling mellow rather than out of control drunk. Sam and Paul had tempered their consumption in deference to their women being in attendance, so the effect Jasper had to work with was a lot milder than it had been that night. It was still fun but it wasn't as boisterous and hilarious as it had been back then.

"Hey Ed, did they really stick you with a ball and chain at your bucks turn?" Randall was asking me.

Turning back into the circle I smiled, "Yeah, bastards. They did." I admitted. "Not content with mere symbolism the fuckers went and got an actual lead chain with an actual spiked lead ball attached to it. Someone has photos." I cringed.

Emmett began to snort with laughter. "That was a hell of a night Ed."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Did Jasper tell you what he did to us?" I asked Randall who shook his head, I threw Jaz a scowl. "Fucker got us tanked then stoned. Carlisle was bloody hilarious."

Julian sat up higher in his seat and leaned forward eager for more information. "Carlisle? Carlisle Cullen let you get him drunk and stoned?" He asked, incredulous.

Jasper started laughing and nodding violently. "He did, I swear. The wolves got actually drunk and actually stoned once Chief Swan fell off his log for the night and then I soaked it all up and projected it onto the others. Carlisle even used the term 'rat-arsed' didn't he Ed?" he crowed.

"He did. He even pronounced it like you do Randall." I agreed.

"I can't picture it. Tell us Edward." Peter asked.

Carlisle – who had been quiet all this time because he'd been dragged inside with the 'older' crowd – could now be heard cursing at us from the house.

I told them to take no notice of the old man and got down to telling the tale of my bucks night.

**BPOV**

"So other shields can pull others in and protect them too?" I asked Eleazar.

"I've seen it done, yes, but I have no idea how to do it of course. Our friend Zafrina may be able to assist you there, she has worked tirelessly to control her gift, if anyone has an insight into the mind it is she." He told me.

"Okay, I'll make sure to talk to her." I mumbled. I looked over to where Randall was holding court. Edward seemed relaxed and happy again. He had spent a good while watching me as I sat talking to Eleazar though I didn't know why. I had such a short time to spend with the man who could tell me about my gift - and my daughters - and I didn't want to waste it, so I asked as many questions as I could while he was willing to spend the time. "And Nessa, do you think she has anything to teach Nessa?"

"Possible, very possible. As the child grows her gift may change, shift if you will." He agreed.

"And what do you think of our learning theory?" I asked.

"I think you are quite correct." He chuckled. "I think she has an extraordinary capacity for learning. You have a rare opportunity to shape that. I know you won't waste it. There are those of us who will be very interested to learn of her unique talents." He said cryptically.

"We won't waste it. Edward has a huge chart, a timetable really. It's all filled out with who will teach her what and when. He's dying to get started on her lessons. Poor little thing won't have much time to be a child." I grumbled.

"Ahh, there is time enough for fun." He chuckled and pointed to the circle of male vampires who were now ragging my husband mercilessly about his bucks night. "Your husband seems to have found his niche, at last. Mate husband and father in a few short months. How very lucky we are to count you among us young Bella." He reached for my hand and kissed the back of it reverently. "Our esteemed colleagues in the North will be very happy to make your acquaintance when the time is right." He said as he stooped to kiss my hand once more.

I heard the snarl and knew it came from my Edward the instant the sound rent the air.

Eleazar tilted his head and arched his brows, "Judging by the hissing coming from your mate I have overstepped my mark." He chuckled and shot Edward – who was now on his feet – a placating smile. "I think that may be my cue to find my own mate and retire to your cottage. It has been a pleasure Mrs Cullen." He nodded to me and then he was gone, Edward taking his place instantly.

**EPOV**

_Son-of-a-bitch!_

I slid into the seat opposite Bella and took the hand into my own that Eleazar had just kissed. I wanted to wipe it before kissing it myself but I restrained that urge and kissed it regardless.

I clamped my fingers around her engagement and wedding rings and held them firmly. I lifted my eyes to meet hers and saw the puzzlement on her face. Hopefully she'd only see my actions just now as possessiveness and not fear for what Eleazar was hiding within his words.

With a soft sigh she cupped my cheek in her hand and strummed it with her thumb, "Silly man." She whispered and leaned in to kiss me.

I closed my eyes and let her scent flood my senses. "I am." I admitted with a wry chuckle.

Still keeping her hand in mine I pulled her closer and lifted her out of her seat and into my lap. I buried my nose in her hair and thanked my luck that she was mine.

"Edward?" She said quietly against my cheek.

"Mmm." I hummed against her throat.

"You'd tell me if there was anything wrong, wouldn't you?" She asked astutely.

I gave myself half a second to consider the consequences of my answer and then I lied. "I would." I said as firmly and confidently as I could muster before I let my teeth nip at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

"Good. Now go back to your friends so I can go and gossip with the ladies." She giggled as she leapt out of my lap and ran to the other end of the tent to join the ladies.

She slipped into the chair beside Maggie who turned to face me and pursed her lips into a menacing line. _'That was a lie and not a smart one.' _She very pointedly thought **at** me before she turned back to Kate and resumed her conversation.

When I slid back into my own chair amongst my own group Jasper held his fist out for me and I bumped it while listening to his thoughts.

_'I don't know what's up, but we'll fix it.' _He told me with a lift of his eyebrows.

I nodded and turned to Nathaniel. "Did you see Aro sneaking off with Tanya earlier? What gives?" I laughed. The others joined in and began speculating on the newest pairing within our unlikely extended family and so I was able to forget for a moment the fear I was feeling.

Monday mornings dawn bought with it bright winter sunshine, much to everyone's delight.

Rose was able to beg off work and Alice and Jasper would now have a legitimate reason for skipping school.

Seth, however, was extremely unhappy to be the only one in our house who had to be driven (by me, in the Veyron, as a consolation) to school that morning.

I wasn't surprised to learn that the first of our guests who'd be leaving us were the Egyptians. Amun was eager to be away, anywhere other than in Renesmee's presence, and was keen to get Benjamin away from our 'witch'.

Benjamin himself was sorry to be leaving so soon after meeting Nessa, he and his mate were quite taken with her and said they'd have enjoyed a few more days getting to know her. But, as was the way with such things, they were compelled to follow their leader home.

Bella had convinced Zafrina and her coven mates to stay for a few extra days. She wanted to spend some time with the talented vampire and learn more about her mental abilities, as well as giving Zafrina a chance to spend more time with Nessa, to whom she had become very attached.

Loud goodbyes were chanted as the Egyptian's car went out the driveway and turned towards the highway.

Alistair, Charles and Makenna had a plane to catch from Seattle so they were the next to leave, although their departure was tinged with melancholia for us all. Their attendance, and their good and kind natures, would be missed in and around our home. Makenna kissed both Nessa and Bella and promises were made to catch up more regularly. I was made to promise to bring my family to Germany – the nomads current area of choice – as soon as possible for a visit.

The Irish got their fill of the baby during the daylight hours and by the time Bella carried her to her crib for her afternoon nap their car was packed and we were all once again in the driveway saying a rowdy goodbye.

More promises of more frequent visits, as well as a promise from Bella to send many, many photos of Nessa as she grew were shouted when the Italians said their goodbyes in the early evening. They were travelling on to Montreal to visit another small group of vampires who resided there, but with whom we weren't acquainted ourselves.

Nathaniel was reluctant to leave. The kinship he felt with Nessa was powerful. He'd never known another like himself and wanted to come back often to meet with her and us.

"You are always welcome here Nathaniel, you know that. Please, come back again very soon." I told him.

"I will, if that's alright. I'd like to be able to teach her something of Italy, maybe the art and literature of my time there, if you're both agreeable?" He asked us hesitantly.

By way of an answer Bella threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. "We'd love that!" She called excitedly.

Knowing smiles and a few sniggers were exchanged when Aro kissed Tanya full on the mouth and squeezed her butt before sliding into the taxi that was waiting idly in the driveway.

When the engine noise from the taxi had subsided the men went back into the house leaving the women to comfort a sobbing Tanya in the front yard.

**BPOV**

I'd been so wrapped up in my own little world I'd failed to notice Tanya and Aro's budding relationship. I felt bad and wondered what I could do or say to make her feel better. Her sisters were on their knees beside her on the gravel as she cried for her loss.

"We're so lucky to have found them and to be able to keep them, aren't we?" Rosie whispered in a surprising show of sympathy for our cousin. I assumed she meant our mates and nodded in agreement.

The thought of being away from Edward, for even a few hours, was actually physically painful so the idea of being torn apart by continents scared me beyond words.

"Kisses!" Nessa bellowed from Alice' arms. All eyes turned to her, including Tanya's.

I went to where Alice was standing by Esme and looked down at my daughter. Her fists were clenching and unclenching just like they usually were when she wanted Edward. She was staring intently at Tanya though. "What is it little one? Kisses?" I asked.

"Kisses make it better...like my daddy does..." She said in a clear voice while staring directly at Tanya.

"Oh I see." I turned to Tanya who was smiling now. "Do you think some Nessa kisses will make it better Tanya?" I giggled.

Tanya straightened her skirt and then ran a hand through her hair before coming to stand in front of Alice and Renesmee. She scooped Nessa out of her aunt's arms and cuddled her close, letting the little girl plant a big, wet sloppy kiss on her cheek.

"Thank you Nessa, I do feel better now." Tanya whispered into my daughter's hair.

"Like daddy does." Nessa stated proudly.

When we told Nessa it was time for bed later that night it was Tanya she asked for. Edward and I kissed her goodnight, as we had the night before when Seth took her up to her bed, and then we listened at the top of the stairs while our cousin sang our daughter to sleep.

We crept back downstairs before Tanya rejoined the group but she came to each of us, in turn, to say thank you for letting her do that.

"You're so welcome." I told her honestly. I wanted to ask how she was feeling but her face said it all. "You know, there is this kind of deer that tastes divine, I think I tasted it in Maiano." I said, hoping she'd bite.

She did.

"Maiano? That's where exactly, I have heard of it?" She asked with furrowed brows.

"Oh, it's in Italy. And did you know, just for interests sake you know, that its only twenty-four hours travelling time to get there from here. Would be about the same from Alaska, wouldn't it?" I said casually.

"I guess so." She giggled. She reached for my hand and squeezed it tightly.

"Marcus, you know Marcus right...he's got this big game park right in Maiano. Great for a holiday there! Nice people. Great weather. The food is fantastic at his place." I giggled. "Oh wait, we have friends there! This guy, Aro, he lives there. You could probably stay with him. I can find out if you'd like." I laughed.

She was giggling now too. "Well, I do love a good bit of venison. Perhaps I should look up your friends and go for a bit of a holiday and taste it for myself?"

"I think you should. Holidays like that can change your life." I said pointedly.

She looked to where Edward sat at his piano and then back to me. "I'd like to have what you have found." She whispered. "I think I'll book the flight when we get home tomorrow."

With one last squeeze of my hand she went and sat between her sisters on the sofa.

I went to sit beside Edward at the piano.

His fingers were flying over the keys, his shoulders swaying lightly as the melody came alive for him. "That was good advice." He whispered.

"Was it?" I chuckled.

"Indeed it was. They'll do well together." He said no more and I didn't want to ask how he knew that to be true, but I figured he'd read something from one or both of them for him to believe that. That was enough for me.

**EPOV**

Peter and Charlotte left with Alice and Jasper in tow when Nessa went for her afternoon nap the following day. The four of them were planning on travelling to Dallas and then visiting some important sites that would help the two boys with the research for their book. The two girls would shop. Nonstop. All day. Every day. For the next four days.

I didn't need to be a mind reader to know that every man woman, and yes even my child, was happy to be missing out on that particular excursion.

Mary and Julian took their leave at dusk. They headed off, hand in hand, via the river on their way back to wherever it was they were calling home this year. Randall wanted to stay longer but I politely suggested he leave with his coven mates lest he get lost on his way home. He laughed, loudly, but said nothing. His thoughts, however, were filled with jealousy and envy that I had someone to be so possessive over.

The Denali girls, Carmen included, were planning to leave us at full dark but Eleazar had elected to stay behind. His reasoning, verbally at least, had been that he wanted extra time to get to know Bella and Nessa. I cringed when I heard Bella ask him to stay and help her with any knowledge he could share of other shields.

He had wisely suggested staying at the big house on Monday night which I thought was an excellent idea. It was good for me for two reasons. One that meant that the Amazon women could go and stay at the cottage and that would make both my girls happy and two because that meant that Eleazar would have no further chance to be alone with Bella.

I wanted him gone, now.

When it was time for Nessa to go home for bed I suggested that Bella go with the three Amazon ladies, give them the grand tour, giving me a chance to speak with Eleazar alone before he was closeted away with my wife the following day for 'shield lessons'. I couldn't tell Bella that, so I told her that I needed a word with Carlisle before he went for his shift at the hospital.

She eyed me suspiciously when I made the suggestion but she said nothing out loud. She kissed me softly at the corner of my mouth and told me to hurry home. I promised that I would.

When the four shadows melted into the tree line at the rear of the yard I went to find Eleazar. "If you have a moment, friend..." I trailed off, my hand motioning towards the front door.

"Of course, friend." Eleazar replied warily.

We ran only a short distance. Far enough that we'd not be overheard but still close enough to the house that I could hear the thoughts of the family in case they decided to approach us. I slowed and came to a stop at the edge of the highway and turned to face Eleazar. "I want to ask you to make no further mentions of the Romanians to Bella." I said sternly.

He didn't both with surprise or shock, he knew me better than to expect I was naive to his intentions. "As you wish." Was his only answer.

"Thank you." And with that he turned and ran back towards the house, leaving me in shock.

I took a few moments to gather myself and then I headed back into the house. I intended to go through the front door, shout my goodbyes to the family and go directly through the backdoor and head home to the cottage.

Carlisle intercepted me. "A word, son?" He asked.

I nodded and let him lead me back out the front door into the trees and in the opposite direction to where I'd just run with Eleazar.

In his mind he was trying to judge how far to run with me so that we'd be out of earshot of the family and far enough away that I'd be able to concentrate on our discussion without the intrusion of mental voices.

"This is far enough Carlisle." I laughed as we neared the boundary line to La Push.

"Good. Now tell me what the hell is going on?" He demanded, rounding on me with an angry scowl.

I backed up unconsciously. I had to actually check myself so that I didn't slip into a defensive crouch, I was so caught by surprise at his anger. "I have no idea what you mean." I told him.

"Don't treat me like an idiot Edward. You've spent the past three days scowling, snarling and sniping at Eleazar and he's been nothing other than courteous to you. Explain yourself." He demanded again.

I ran a hand through my hair and stood straighter. "It's nothing." I mumbled.

"Not good enough. Try again." He spat.

Fuck. I should've let it go when Alice told me to. "Okay. I've been listening to Eleazar's thoughts, obviously. He's eager to get back to Romania to tell Stephan and Vladimir about Bella and Nessa. He thinks they'll be impressed with us, as a family, that we'll be very valuable to them." I was pacing now, my fear bubbling up inside me again.

Carlisle thought on this for a moment and began to form similar arguments to those Alice shared with me the night of the christening.

"Maybe you are very valuable but I've never heard of the Romanians insisting anyone join their guard. You'd have the right to refuse Edward." He said evenly.

"You don't think they'd make it so we'd be unable to refuse their more than generous offer?" I snorted thinking of all the times they'd offered Alice, Jasper and I a place at their sides. They were ruthless bastards intent only on feathering their already heavily padded nests.

"Be that as it may, what good would an infant child with an extra capacity for information and an unproven talent for showing her memories be to them?" He asked, as Alice had previous.

"Alice and I have already gone over this. And I agree, mostly. I just don't like the idea of my wife and child being thought about as commodities, surely you can allow me that much?" I asked.

"Of course and in that I totally agree. Any decision to use their gifts has to come from your girls alone, Eleazar mustn't imply otherwise either to Bella or to the Romanians. But Edward, Eleazar is an old friend; he's never given us any reason to believe he is returning to their service. Bella is a shield and while that's impressive it's not uncommon among our kind. She would serve no purpose to them if her shield proves only able to protect her."

"Again, Alice and I have already gone over this." I told him. "And again we agree with you in principle, Bella's talent is only valuable to Bella in its current form. But Eleazar seems intent to show her, or at least put her in contact with other shields that have learned to manipulate their shields for other purposes. As for Eleazar, you can believe what you like. I know what I read from him. The instant he leaves here he is going to Romania. You can bank on it."

Carlisle sighed heavily. "Alright. I believe you. If that's what you've read from him I believe that is his intention. But until the Romanians do or say otherwise it will serve no purpose other than for Eleazar to pay a visit to them for old times' sake. We've done nothing wrong Edward, there is no reason for them to come here."

It was as though he'd read my mind, again. This was my fear. That the Romanians would deem my girls interesting enough for them to make the journey for a formal visit. If Bella learned to use her gift to protect anyone other than herself she would be very valuable to Stephan and Vladimir. She could be used. We would be unable to decline, it simply wasn't done. If they came they would be privy to the size of our coven and the talents that lay within it. With five of us now in possession of a gift or talent we could be seen as a threat to our ruling clan.

"I don't want them to come here. I just want to live in my little cottage with my wife and daughter and I want to be left alone." I told him simply. "I think we've earned that right."

"Then that's what we'll work towards." He agreed. "I'll talk to Alice, get her to keep an eye on Stephan and Vladimir, if they make a move to come here we'll know long before they leave Romania. For now I suggest you cool down regarding Eleazar, if you protest too loudly he'll think you are hiding something other than what he can see. Go home Edward, play nice for one more night and then enjoy your family." He told me, putting a soothing hand on my shoulder.

"You mean I'm over reacting and being an ass?" I laughed. "Don't answer that." I quickly added, knowing he'd already said yes I was in his thoughts.

We ran home, laughing all the way.

**BPOV**

Edward was much calmer when he came home that night. He was back to his normal charming, playful self by the time he arrived at the cottage.

After checking on Nessa he joined the four of us ladies in the living room and played for us for hours. Apart from some obscure Pan African Orchestral requests he played everything we could name and a few we'd never heard of too!

I was worried that it would wake Nessa but she slept soundly through the entire night, as always. Edward kept a close check on her dreams but he never mentioned any change so I was happy for him to play long into the night.

Zafrina talked with me for hours about the capacity for my shield to protect me and how I could learn to manipulate the talent I already had and turn it into a real defence mechanism. She suggested I concentrate on projecting but I couldn't actually visualize the shield as yet, so by the time the sun came up on Tuesday morning my task had been set.

To actually see my shield I had to be able to feel it. Up until now I'd thought of it as a wiring error in my brain, a quirk of fate that meant something was wrong. It took a lot for me to change my thinking and view it as something other.

When Zafrina was learning her craft – as she called the projection of images she had mastered – she had begun by first coming to terms with the things she knew to be true. So that is where we began.

I knew that Edward could not read me so while Nessa went to the big house to spend time with her grandparents, accompanied by Senna and Kachiri, Edward spent his time trying to read me while I tried to relax my shield.

It didn't work, not once.

Zafrina tried for hours to show me images but I never once saw them.

"Perhaps yours is truly a protection talent?" The tall dark woman suggested. "If you were provoked perhaps you could use it to defend another? Have you ever needed to defend your mate young one?" She asked.

I shook my head no. "He's had to do it over and over for me, but I've never had to protect anyone." I told her.

"Well then, perhaps that is the key." She smiled.

Edward came out of the study then, a sly grin on his face. He came to stand beside me and he hugged me tightly to him. "Don't feel bad that you've never had to fight for me Bella. I'd do it every second of everyday for you." He kissed me at my temple and then he turned to Zafrina. "Jasper would be my obvious choice for this test but he is away. I'll collect Emmett and Carlisle." And with that he ran out the door and away to the big house.

While we waited Zafrina set about telling me her plan. "To get a feel for your shield you might need to actually believe it's needed. A mate in peril can be a good catalyst, young one."

I didn't like the idea that someone would be trying to hurt Edward but I knew that was the whole point of the exercise. "Okay, so if we can trick my brain into thinking someone is going to hurt Edward what should I do then?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. My defence is always to project an image to distract so I can flee. I think a shield would try to bring their mate under their shield to protect them."

"So I should try to expand my mind and bring Edward in, like under an umbrella?" I asked idly already thinking that that particular analogy made more sense to me than 'projecting' did. I looked to Zafrina and saw she was smiling and nodding encouragingly.

"Good, good. Now you are beginning to think like a shield." She laughed lightly.

Edward returned with not only Emmett and Carlisle but also Eleazar, Esme and Renesmee. I wasn't too sure about having an audience but I didn't want to waste the chance to practise either.

We moved into the little courtyard at the back of the cottage for the experiment and Esme took Nessa to sit on the stone wall. Carlisle hovered close by but it was Emmett who stepped forward to 'take a shot at' Edward.

"Don't hold back." Edward smirked.

"Not in my nature." Emmett snarled smugly as he slipped into his crouch.

He was much bigger than Edward, of course, and his crouch was aggressive where Edward's was athletic and much more confident. As Emmett lunged at Edward I knew this wouldn't work. They dodged each other for a few seconds and then I put a stop to it.

"Stop!" I bellowed making Nessa gasp and Eleazar snigger. "This won't work." I huffed.

"Why not sissy? I can kick his ass, sorry Esme, any day of the week." Emmett pranced before Edward trying to entice him into fighting once more.

"It's not that Em, and for the record you couldn't kick Edward's ass, sorry Esme, even if you tied his arms behind his back." I blew a kiss to Edward who beamed and nodded in triumph to Emmett. "It won't work because you just aren't a credible threat big guy. I know you're only playing around. Plus, Edward can see what you plan to do so he dodges effectively."

Carlisle stepped forward then, "She's right. It looks like play fighting."

I thought he was about to say something else, offer a suggestion, but he gasped and then Emmett did, which made me turn to look at Edward.

He fell to his knees on the cobblestones, clutching his skull between his long fingers. "NO!" He bellowed into the sky. "Don't fucking touch her!" He roared, to whom I wasn't sure.

I ran to where Edward was kneeling on the ground and took his shaking body into my arms. Holding him tight I looked around the assembled group. Esme was aghast, her eyes wide in terror as she clutched my sobbing daughter in her arms.

Carlisle had stopped speaking and was approaching us cautiously. Emmett stood stock still in his shock while Edward wailed and cried out.

"Get away Bella. Run. Go, run. Take Nessa. Oh god." He screamed as he thrashed in my arms.

When Edward said run I became aware of what was happening around me. Zafrina was projecting some perceived threat into Edward's brain, he was utterly terrified and I had to protect him. It was all I could think about, how to protect him, how to remove the images from his brain so he could return to me.

I closed my eyes and held him hard up against me while I imagined an umbrella. If I was standing under it – and I obviously was or Zafrina would be making me see things that would be making me scream – then I had to somehow drag Edward underneath that umbrella too.

As his fear and anguish built and his screams intensified Nessa began to wail too. Her shrill terror flooded my brain and senses and soon I could see the thin red veil before me. I'd seen it before, in that horrid shack, the day Nessa was ripped from my belly. I thought, at that time, that it was my anger manifesting itself as a spectre in front of my eyes. The old adage of 'seeing red' when you lost control of your temper. Now it looked like a jellyfish, soft and squishy and red, very very red. It pulsed as though it had its own energy source. It looked potent, strong. Although it was only a film it looked like its fibres couldn't be torn. This was my shield.

"This will stop." I announced to myself as much as to anyone else. I strained my neck backwards and began to force the jellylike mesh out further away from my body. It settled over Edward's hunched shoulders and rippled down his back and under his knees. "This will stop." I repeated as if to convince myself that I could make it happen merely through wishing it so. I tucked the veil around him, encompassing his entirety. I looked around us, making sure the threat was only mental and not physical, and then I tightened my grasp on the shield, pulling it tightly around us both until no part of either myself or Edward was showing from under it. He was entirely pink, the strange shadow cast over his as my shield buffeted the iridescent waves of Zafrina's imagined threat.

Edward's trembling began to slacken, his cries softened and then Zafrina began to clap.

I looked to Eleazar who was grinning smugly and wringing his hands in front of his body as if he was enjoying Edward's pain. I snarled in his direction and his expression changed from smug to caution. Satisfied I'd gotten my point across I let the jelly net snap back, freeing Edward from under it.

He collapsed to the ground panting. I ran my hands through his hair and kissed him over and over and over. He clawed at me, pulling me down until he was holding me tightly to his chest. "Shh, it's okay baby. It's okay." I whispered as he rocked us together on the ground.

**EPOV**

I had never felt so utterly helpless, so devastated as I did watching my wife and child slaughtered at the hands of two crudely dressed African warriors.

Intellectually I knew two things. One, it was impossible to kill my wife and child using their rudimentary spears and two, I knew the image wasn't real.

Rationally I knew Bella was safe, Nessa was in her grandmothers arms where I'd seen her half a second earlier. But rationality flew out the window the instant the spear pierced Bella's heart.

From then on in I was lost to the savage imagery. That Bella could only stand still and watch while the same fate befell our child made it seem all that more brutally cruel.

I knew I was crying out, knew I was whimpering like a child.

I knew I was on the ground and I knew, deep within myself, that it wasn't real. But it was so keenly effective, the image fed to me, that it smelled real, sounded so real. It was totally unavoidable. My entire body, mind and what there was of my soul was trapped in the spiralling pain of loss. It was complete sensory devastation.

I didn't feel anyone near me but when the cloud of relief washed over me I could feel arms wound around my waist.

It began at my temples. A slow easing of the tension I had been holding there. My scalp prickled with relief first and then the back of my neck. I felt it wash down my spine, over my ass and down across the back of my legs. And then the pictures were gone and I could breathe again.

I sucked in a gulp of clean air and smelled Bella's scent envelop me. It was she who was clutching me so tightly, rocking me back and forth, soothing me with her touch and her smell.

I don't know how long we lay there like that. Bella pinned to my chest by my own hands, but it was a while. Eventually she rolled us sideways and I opened my eyes to hers.

"Hey." She whispered, cupping my cheek with her tiny hand. "Are you alright now?"

I closed my eyes and let my senses fan out around me. I could feel my body, I was intact physically. I had a dull ache in the back of my head but other than that I was okay. "Yeah, I'm alright love." I told her.

She let out a mighty stream of air as if she'd been holding her breath waiting for my answer for a long time. "Thank god. I'm so sorry, it was a stupid idea." She mumbled into my chest as I pulled her closer.

I wasn't about to disagree with that assessment, "It was. But it worked, right?"

"Yeah, it did." She agreed. "I'm so sorry Edward." She was shaking.

"It's alright now." I told her and began stroking up and down her back. I turned my head from side to side to see who was still out there with us but we were alone. Ranging my hearing out I couldn't detect anything other than the rustle of leaves in a tree nearby. I couldn't pick up any mental voices either. "Where are they?" I asked. I had a ridiculous hope that the terror I'd just experienced had somehow shocked my mind reading abilities clean out of my brain. No such luck.

"The big house. Nessa needed her nap, they've taken her up there." She told me.

I let my fingers come away from her back and lifted my arm so I could read my watch. 3pm. Huh. Two hours. "We've been here for two hours?" I asked.

"Yeah." She said quietly.

"You did it." I said matter of factly.

"I did." She agreed. "I don't ever want to do it ever again Edward." She whimpered.

"You won't ever need to Bella." I promised her with a sound kiss to her pouting bottom lip.

Now that my fear had subsided my need for her made itself known. Without saying a word I tore her clothes from her trembling body and had her, right there on the cold wet cobblestones in our backyard.

The hissed 'mine' that I grunted into her open mouth as I came was possessive, greedy and completely out of control.

Hers matched mine in intensity.

I never wanted to put her through that again, I never wanted to feel that helpless ever again. I'd make sure that nothing and nobody would fuck with us ever again.

But even as I made that vow I knew that wasn't realistic.

Bella had managed to protect someone other than herself with her shield and Eleazar had been there to see it. He had new knowledge to take to Romania.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you have found something of interest in the chapter please review, I would love to know how you are finding it so far. **


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18 – Wife, Child, now leave us alone.

18.

**BPOV**

Edward was extremely pleased to see the last of our visitors off two days later.

He never told me what Zafrina showed him that day in the courtyard and after asking the first time and seeing the terror in his eyes, I never asked again.

Zafrina was keen to keep practising but I declined the offer. I didn't ask anyone to help and nobody volunteered. After watching what Edward went through I doubted anyone would want to go too near Zafrina again in a hurry.

Emmett was unusually quiet, and very physically clingy, for days afterward. When he came to the cottage of a morning to see Nessa before he went off to college he sat with me, not the baby. He kept his attention with her but he sat with me, usually with an arm across the back of my shoulders. He was less boisterous with Edward too. It was as though he was still worried for his brother and I. Nobody spoke of it though, it was as if it had never happened.

Esme refused to discuss it citing Nessa's sensibilities but I guessed it was also to spare Esme having to relive what she'd seen happen to her son that day too.

Carlisle tried to talk to Edward about it but Edward brushed it off, asking him to forget the details and just be happy that I'd learned how to use my shield, the manner in which that happened being inconsequential. I had a brief conversation with my father in law about it but it was cut short by Edward's snarls. I didn't revisit it again.

Nessa herself asked her father what had hurt him and he'd explained that mommy was having a lesson on how to protect us and Zafrina had had to show him something scary so mommy could practise. She never asked what and he never said. She offered him kisses to make him feel better and he accepted them with a wide smile. That night he sat beside her crib and watched her sleep for four hours without moving. I let him be.

Edward was careful to explain to Nessa that her memories of that day should stay for her only. He asked her to keep them from Seth too by explaining that it might bother Seth to see daddy and mommy hurting like that. But really it was so that Nessa would just let it go and not relive it for herself or anyone else ever again.

By the time Alice and Jasper had been home from their travels for a week a sense of normalcy had settled over our family once again.

Seth arrived each morning to see Nessa before school. He went to school with Alice and Jasper everyday and every afternoon he came to be with us at first the cottage then the big house before Edward or I drove him home in time for his dinner.

We took Nessa to the big house during the day and she spent time with Esme learning all she could about the family history and Esme's talent for decorating and antiques.

Edward spent time composing when Nessa was with Esme and between last minute study and developing the photos from the christening in my little darkroom, I too was very busy.

The night before my first exam I began to get nervous. Not about the exam but about being at the school without Edward and about leaving Nessa even for the few hours it would take me each day for the next week to sit the actual exams.

**EPOV**

The idea of Bella going to school without me gutted me.

Sue and Harry had given their permission for Seth to skive off the first part of the day, allowing Alice her 'sight' while Bella was at the school. That should've consoled me, but the thought of her there, amongst those boys, crushed me.

What I was feeling as I watched her drive away from me on the first day was not jealousy, it was fear. Primal, feral, uncontrollable fear that some boy would speak to her, that someone would touch her or that she would form an attachment to someone other than me. It burned inside me, ate me from the inside out. It consumed my every thought, every rational concept was lost to my roiling brain.

As stupid as it had felt to do, and as ridiculous as Bella had found it, I'd been sure to cover her in my scent this morning. Just in case. In case of what neither of us had been able to say, but just in case. Like I said, my entire psyche was being ruled by irrational fear.

"She'll only be gone two hours Edward. Come inside, play for us." Esme tried to soothe me, to get me to go inside, but I opted to stand in the driveway until I could no longer hear her car as she drove out onto the highway.

She had her mobile and she was only five short miles away. She'd be isolated during her exams, she'd be in a closed classroom with only the Assistant Principal to supervise, so I knew she'd be fine during the actual exams. She had her own vehicle there. I'd insisted she take her own rather than ride with Alice and Jasper. If she needed to leave she could. She'd hunted right before Nessa had risen for the day so I knew her thirst was not going to be a concern. It was overcast and the drizzle was as bad as it always was, so detection wasn't an issue either.

I knew all this and still I burned. White hot. My flesh prickled with it. The hair at my nape stood on end as the last rumble of the Elise's engine faded into the distance. I felt for my cell phone, flipped it open and stupidly checked to see if I had any messages. Of course I didn't.

With a last hiss in the direction of the highway I turned on my heel and stalked back into the house. Fucking high school boys!

I slammed the front door and yelled 'sorry Esme' up the stairs and then in a blur I went to our suite. Rifling through the draws on my side of the desk I pulled the sheaf of lilac paper out and grabbed for a pen. I'd be fucked if she'd spend hours at school tomorrow with no reminders of me.

**BPOV**

The drive to school was awful. The tug I felt towards Edward standing on the front porch, and the ache I felt to be leaving Nessa, made my stomach feel heavy and my heart hurt.

As far as anyone knew I'd spent the entire break on my honeymoon trying to get over the last of my 'illness'. Carlisle had arranged, with Charlie and Renee's permission (I was still technically a minor) of course, that I be allowed to sit my final exams at the school a full six months early so that I could attend an early entry college program with Edward. Neither of us had any intention of attending college yet. The idea of leaving Nessa during her waking hours was ridiculous to us both. Maybe in a few years, but not yet.

The parking lot was full of humans milling around in groups just as they did when I was there before. I could see Mike Newton and Jessica Stanley huddled together at the side of his car and beyond them I could see Lauren who was standing with Eric and Tyler. I hoped they wouldn't approach me. None of them had any reason to speak to me let alone look at me.

I parked the Elise – amid some catcalls and a few whistles – at the edge of the lot and took a deep breath of the clean air inside the cab before grabbing my book bag and heading out into the drizzle.

Angela was waiting at the foot of the hill when I got there.

It seemed so odd to be here again. Even stranger to be here without Edward. I could see Alice and Jasper out of my periphery and I knew that they'd come running the instant I needed them, but it was still odd to be here on my own.

Apart from the first weeks of school, before I knew any of the Cullen's, I'd never attended without being Edward's. The last time I'd been here I was Bella Swan, now I was Mrs Edward Cullen!

A few people called out to me and I waved to them politely but mostly I was ignored and I was very happy about it.

"Hey Ange!" I called, pulling her to me carefully and hugging her. I held my breath, her scent was delicious. This is my friend and I won't hurt her, I told myself sternly as I let her go.

"Wow, look at you!" she said excitedly. "You look amazing. Soaking up all that honeymoon sun has done you wonders girl." She laughed.

"Hey Ben, good to see you." I said to her boyfriend who was hovering at her side.

"You too Bella, you look great. Say hi to Edward for me, yeah?" He asked.

"I sure will." I said as the bell rang.

Angela and Ben left me at the entrance to the Administration block and headed off to their first classes. "I'll see you at the break, meet us in the quad." Angela called over her shoulder as her and Ben ran off towards the buildings at the far side of the lot.

I went into the office and stood at the front desk.

"Well hello Mrs Cullen." Mrs Cope greeted me fondly. "Welcome back."

I smiled. It did feel good to be known as Mrs Cullen now. "Thank you Mrs Cope. I have two exams today, do you know where I'm supposed to be?" I asked.

She reached under the top lip of the desk and slid a timetable across to me. "You'll be in an empty Biology lab this morning for your first one and then in the Maths department for the second test." She pointed to each of the classroom numbers on the timetable and I folded it and slid it into my jeans pocket.

"Thanks. Do I head there now?" I asked.

"No!" She said just a little too loudly. I was about to ask why when she giggled. "Sorry dear, I didn't mean to shout that. You can't go yet because we all want to see your rings." She giggled like a schoolgirl as the other three secretaries came out of their cubicles to crowd around the desk.

I held my breath as I slid my hand out in front of me, allowing the human women to grasp my wrist and ogle my jewellery.

"Pastor Weber told us it was a lovely ceremony." One of the other ladies said wistfully. "Is it true Dr Cullen was the best man?" she asked with arched eyebrows.

Ahh, Doctor Happy Hands strikes again! "Yep, he's Edward's best friend." I said truthfully.

"And he gave you a charm everyday for a month, right?" One of the younger women asked?

I held my wrist higher and let the charms jingle. "He did." I beamed.

"And you spent a month on a deserted island, just the two of you?" Another asked with wide eyes.

"Hmm mm." I answered noncommittally.

"It's like a fairytale." Mrs Cope mumbled to herself, her face clouding over as she slid into her imagination.

I'd like to think she was imagining Carlisle sweeping her off her feet but I'd seen with my own eyes the way she swooned whenever Edward was near. With a smile and a wink at the love struck women I headed off to the Biology rooms.

The exam itself was a piece of cake. I'd studied hard and with the new brain capacity that went with my change I was easily able to recall the facts I needed to complete it well within the allotted time.

Sitting in a closed classroom with a tasty human was not so easy.

To make matters worse he was cold so he'd turned up the heating, effectively doubling the strength of his scent in the tiny room.

It was a great relief when he said to put my pen down and turn in my paper. I didn't say a word as I put the paper on the desk and fled outside into the fresh air.

**EPOV**

She'd be finishing up her first exam about now so I was silently congratulating myself on having survived the first half of today's ordeal.

I'd sat with Nessa at the piano for almost the entire hour. Nessa asked for Bella over and over, which broke my heart. But all in all I think Nessa was a good distraction for me. She giggled and clapped and twittered as I played, effectively distracting me from the scenarios my imagination was throwing at me.

I took my cell phone from my pocket and placed it on the lid of the piano. She promised to text the second she was done with the first exam and I would be ready when she did.

"Mommy...mommy..." Nessa whined again.

"It won't be long my little love. Mommy is at school." I told her, again.

_'Nessa to school with mommy?' _she asked me silently, her huge brown eyes brimming with unshed tears.

I ran my thumb over her cheek and smiled as best as I could. "I miss her too my beauty." I admitted.

The instant my cell phoned beeped I had it in my hand reading it.

~Exam was easy, being here without you isn't. Tell me you miss me? Love you, B xx~

I groaned, bringing Esme running from the dining room. "What is it? Is she alright?" She demanded.

I couldn't help but laugh. Esme had spent the whole hour silently pleading with me to calm down, to not worry, to enjoy the time with my daughter and here she was in anything other than a calm state, worrying about Bella and pleading with me for news!

"She's fine, the exam went well." I told her and watched her visibly relax.

With a beatific smile she went back to arranging her flowers.

I typed my reply and hit send.

~I miss you so much the music feels wrong without you here. Come home to me soon, I love you endlessly, E + R xx~

I let out a childish chortle at being the one able to send E + R (Edward plus Renesmee) to her, when for so long she'd sent me B + B (Bella and baby).

Nessa was grasping at my cell phone so I closed it and handed it to her to play with while I set about fixing the central piece of the composition I was working on.

**BPOV**

I slipped my cell phone back into my pocket and took one last gulp of clean air before the quad was flooded with humans for their morning break.

Alice and Jasper appeared at my side soon after the bell rang.

"You went well?" Jasper asked, putting his hand on my forearm and squeezing so I'd know he wasn't just asking about the exam.

"I did." I told him, grabbing onto his hand and squeezing it in thanks. "Thanks Jaz."

He nodded slightly and then turned his attention back to Ben who'd come to stand by us. Angela came out of a nearby classroom and made her way to us too.

"How was it? Hard?" She asked with a big smile.

"Not so bad." I lied smoothly. I couldn't admit just how easy it was for me now. "I'll email you some hints when I get home." I nodded towards the group of teachers making their way to the staffroom by way of letting Angela know I couldn't spill what was on the exam in public.

Angela giggled but said nothing more about the test.

Lauren and Jessica walked by, both of them sniggering when they were directly in front of our group. I was feeling pretty well in control, but any slight provocation from those two and I might not be held responsible for my actions.

Alice slid an arm around my shoulders as the two girls walked past again. "Don't make eye contact." She whispered so low no human could pick it out.

Instead of looking at the resident biatches I looked around the quad for others I knew. Mike, Eric and a boy whose name I didn't know were bouncing a basketball between them at the far end of the quad. Four girls from our year were sitting on the retaining wall and mooning over the boys as they played their casual game.

I caught Chloe's eye from where she sat, in the same place I'd seen her sitting with Seth the last time I was here. Though she smiled and gave me a small wave I could tell she was still sad about Seth. His defection had hurt her badly and I felt infinitely guilty about that. It was my daughter who had ultimately made this young girl lose her first love. I strode to where her group was. "Hey Chloe. It's nice to see you." I said.

"Hey Bella. Welcome back." Chloe replied.

"I'm only here to sit my exams, a few days, that's all." I told her with a shrug.

Chloe nodded that she understood and lowered her eyes. "Say hi to Edward for me and if you see Seth say hi to him for me too please." She whispered.

"I will." I said quietly and went back to my own group.

Alice skipped to my side instantly. "Don't be obvious about it, but if you turn to our right in about twenty seconds you'll see a blonde boy with a black book bag over his shoulder. He's going to ask Chloe on a date at lunch. She says yes." Alice whispered.

I counted to ten and then I slid out from under her arm and turned slightly to my right, making it seem as though I was turning to better see Angela as we gossiped. A few seconds later a really tall gangly boy with unruly blonde hair came loping around the corner, black book bag slung over his shoulder as Alice had predicted. As soon as he was able he turned his head to where Chloe was sat and I saw him smile minutely as he caught her eyes.

I turned back to Alice and shot her a tiny smile. She bowed her head slightly and smiled back.

"What exam do you have next?" Ben was asking me.

"Trig." I told him.

He screwed up his face. "Oh god. Good luck." He said.

"Thanks." I laughed. Nobody liked Trig, least of all me. But I was confident I'd do okay. After all, I had Edward help me with my revision. Not that much revision had been done last night.

I had tried to cram again this morning but he'd suggested we hunt and while neither of us was very happy with the idea of leaving Nessa asleep in the cottage unattended he eventually won me over with the promise that he'd hear someone approach long before I'd smell them. We stuck close to the cottage as it was. Maybe a few hundred feet into the trees at best.

The hunt had been swift and satisfying but nowhere near as satisfying as our coupling on the return to the cottage.

Alice nudged me in the ribs and I only just remembered to say 'ouch' before turning to her. "What woman, god that hurt." I said, rubbing my side.

"I was asking you whether you were going to stay for lunch or go home after your test, but you'd zoned out. Do I want to know what you were dreaming of?" She giggled.

Angela began to twitter and both Ben and Jasper rolled their eyes, probably imaging the worst. Which, of course, was true. But they didn't need to know that.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about my next test." I winked at Alice and Angela so they both knew I was lying. "I'm not staying for lunch either, sorry. Edward will be waiting for me."

"Oh isn't young love grand?" Alice shot Angela a smile that made my friend blush.

"I still can't believe you are married Bella. It must be so amazing. Will you guys move into your own place now, or what?" She asked.

I looked to Alice before I answered. I'd not thought about answering questions like that, so I had to make up something on the hoof. "No, I don't think so. We're going to college pretty soon so I think we'll stay at the big house for now." I said evenly.

"At the big house!" Ben started laughing. "The big house is jail Bella! See Ange? I told you being married was like being in prison!" That earned him a slap across the arm from Angela and a snort and a snigger from both Alice and Jasper.

I smelled Laurens approach and Alice shot me a warning look. Whether that was so I'd be prepared or to just warn me to behave I didn't know.

"So, Mrs Cullen. Nice of you to grace us with your presence." Lauren twisted her lips into what she probably thought was a snarl – although I was inclined to show her what a real snarl looked like I took a good breath of air and braced myself to play nice instead.

"Thanks Lauren." I answered sweetly while Alice and Angela snickered lightly. "Can't say that I've missed you though."

She put her hand on her hip and looked at me with an incredulous look on her face, as though she couldn't believe I'd spoken to her like that. "Smart mouthed bitch." She sniped. "I'd like to see how tough you are when you aren't surrounded by your in laws." She huffed nastily.

I laughed. I couldn't help it. I looked to Alice who winked at me and stepped aside, leaving me facing Lauren square on. "Okay. Lets. Take a walk with me." I nodded towards the walkway and linked my arm through her elbow, startling her with the coldness of my skin. Then I turned us and began to walk towards my next classroom.

She had no choice but to walk with me. I heard Jasper gasp as we left the vicinity and I wanted so badly to let him know that I was in good control. I had no intention of hurting her, or anyone else. I knew Alice would let him know, she'd have seen by now that I only wanted to warn her off verbally.

When we had turned the corner and were out of sight and earshot of the humans in the quad I let her arm go and spun her around so her back was to the lockers in the corridor.

While she gathered herself – she was already trembling and I planned to make that treble in a few seconds – I licked my teeth and let venom come into my mouth fully. I let it wash over my tongue and then I let it pool at the front of it.

Breathing across the venom and into her face I rounded on her and leaned over, as menacingly as I could (after all I was only five feet six inches tall myself, and she was easily four inches taller than that).

"I'll tell you what Lauren." I huffed this so that the scent of my venom would flood her face. I could tell the instant it did because her pupils dilated and her heartbeat began to thump wildly. "I'll give you one free shot at me. No gimmicks, no tricks, no Edward here to help me. This is a onetime offer Lauren. Get it out of your system girl. I'm gonna step away now, you take your shot when you're ready." I smiled as widely as I could and stepped back, giving her about two feet of space between us.

She was blinking rapidly, her fists clenched in panic at her side. There was a fine line of sweat on her upper lip and she was shaking, ever so slightly swaying from side to side while her brain tried to decide what to do.

I put my hands down at my sides in a gesture of passivity. I wouldn't hit her, I could kill her. And if I happened to open her lip the consequences of her spilled blood would be dire. I wasn't confident enough to yet be near human blood, no matter how tainted with hate it was.

"Well?" I asked acidly. "This is what you wanted, wasn't it? You wanted a chance to intimidate me. To bully me. You wanted me on my own, no family to interfere and no Edward to help me. You got it. Didn't you want to tell me how much better than me you are, how much better for Edward you are? How he only married me because I fucked him." I spat it at her but without any real malice. She was terrified and trembling steadily now. I was careful to keep my temper in check and to concentrate on intimidating her and not to overstep my role in this little play. "You think I don't deserve him, that I married him for the money." I only wanted to frighten her, not ignite my bloodlust or my rage. So I played the game as if I was any other teenage girl with her – however irrationally conceived – foe in front of me. "I mean it Lauren, this is a onetime offer. Take your best shot, get it over with. I'm here for only four more days and then you'll never have to see me again. Take your shot or walk away Lauren."

She gulped, blinked hard then her right hand snapped out from her body and connected with my jaw.

I saw it as if it was done in slow motion. I saw the arch of her arm as her shoulder stiffened and braced for the impact. I saw the motion that tucked her fingers inside her palm to strengthen the hit. I saw the muscle in the top of her arm clench in readiness for the blow. I heard the crunch as her middle knuckle popped out of its socket and the fluid spilled out into the surrounding tissue. If I concentrated I could hear the rush of blood to the wound as the bruise began to form.

The connection it made hardly moved me. It was as though someone had tapped me with the point of their finger, hardly shifting me from my stance. My feet were braced at my shoulder width so as her arm swung across my head and fulfilled its arc my ankles absorbed the shock, keeping me in place and steady.

I blinked once, for her benefit not mine, and then I smiled. A wide, cheeky toothy one.

She gasped as though she was shocked at what she had done. I had provoked her, done everything I could to make sure she lost control and took a swing at me. It's what I wanted. I wanted her to hit me, to get it out of her system. I wanted her to go away and tell anyone who would listen that she'd hit me and I'd stood still while she'd done it. I wanted the whole school to buzz with the knowledge that I'd taken the hit with a smile on my face and that her knuckle was busted and I didn't have a scratch on me. Most of all I wanted the principal to know that I hadn't touched her. That she'd hit me, no matter that she was provoked and that I had simply shrugged it off and walked away.

I wanted to know what it would feel like for a human to slug me in the kisser just so I would know that I could control my reaction to it. I was sure she'd put some real force behind the punch and I was also sure she was as shocked as shit that I hadn't crumpled to the floor, or started sputtering and crying. I didn't know what was more satisfying, standing there watching her gape because I didn't react or knowing that if I hit her back with even a tenth of my strength I'd kill her where she stood. It was a little from column A and a little from column B.

"Good," I said firmly, "Now that is out of the way perhaps we can get on with our day." I put my hand on her shoulder, squeezed tightly and listened for her outrush of breath as the pain in her shoulder blade began to match that in her hand. Then I let her go and walked down the corridor to my Trig exam.

Problem sorted.

**EPOV**

"What do you mean she let Lauren hit her?" I raged into the phone.

It had teeth marks in it and some spit from Nessa, I could feel it cool against my ear as I bellowed at Alice to give me details.

"Just what I said Edward. She taunted Lauren, gave her a free pass and let her slug her. Then she smiled and walked away. Everyone is talking about it." Alice laughed.

"Shit!" I cursed into the phone.

"Um ahh." Nessa giggled. "Daddy naughty." She laughed.

"Sorry munchkin." I told her, patting her little cheek. "Alice, are you sure she's okay? Should I come get her? What happened to Lauren after?" I asked.

"She's gone to the hospital. Carlisle is going to have to set her hand like he did Bella's, which is a nice ironic twist don't you think? But other than a dislocated knuckle she's dazed but fine." Alice told me. "Why are you calling me anyway Edward?" She asked.

"Oh, right. I was calling Bella's phone but it's gone to voice mail, I got worried." I admitted.

"She's in the middle of her Trig exam, she's not allowed to have her phone on, you know that. God Edward, she's only been gone a couple of hours, chilax bro." She laughed obnoxiously.

"Yeah, chilax bro. Good one Emmett." I teased. "You're sure she's in control?" I asked.

"Yep. She's going to blitz this test and then she'll be home straight after. The only problem she's going to have for the next few days, that I can see, is how to shake off the notoriety that goes with standing still while Lauren slugged her. Word travels fast here, slow news decade and all that." She giggled.

"Do you think anyone suspects anything other than Bella being able to take a punch?"

"What are you suggesting Edward?" Alice giggled. "Are you saying Bella didn't just stand up in a fight? Are you suggesting she is anything other than what she appears to be? My, My. How interesting."

"Yeah, okay Alice, I get it. Butt out. Okay, I'll leave it alone. Go back to class smart ass." I told her and snapped my phone shut.

"Edward!" Esme called from the third floor.

"Sorry Esme." I mumbled and handed my phone back to Nessa. "Daddy got in trouble from your cranky nana for swearing Nessa. Daddy's in a lot of trouble today, isn't he?" I laughed.

"Naughty daddy." She giggled and put the phone back into her mouth. The slight crunching sound that accompanied her teeth connecting with the outer casing set my own teeth on edge.

**BPOV**

The Trig exam was harder than the Biology one but I still went okay. I made a couple of deliberate mistakes, just in case it looked like I'd cheated, but other than that I was satisfied with my first day's accomplishments.

I slid into the Elise well before the lunch bell and sped home as fast as I could.

Edward was on the porch as I came up the driveway. I thought he would've had Nessa with him but he was alone. He didn't wait for me to get out of the car before he ran to me, pulling roughly at the seatbelt and lifting me bodily out of the driver's seat.

"Thank fuck Bella." He mumbled into my neck as he began kissing me.

I held on to him for dear life. All morning without his scent around me was torturous. I clung to his neck as his lips found mine. I pushed my tongue into his mouth hungrily, loving the deep purr I got for my troubles. I pressed myself up against him desperately. I wanted him, badly. Too badly for it being midday and us standing in the middle of the driveway.

Eventually we pulled away and reluctantly we went into the house. Nessa was sitting in the middle of the living room, on the hearth rug, with Edward's cell phone in her mouth.

She began to bellow for me when I came through the front door and that made me happier than anything else could. She'd missed me like I'd missed her. I ran to her and scooped her up and swung her around and around in my arms.

"Hello there!" I sang. "Mommy missed you so much Nessa." I told her.

"Mommy to school." Nessa said matter of factly. "Daddy trouble from cranky nana." She giggled and I shot Edward a questioning look.

Edward shrugged and tried to look innocent. If it wasn't for the sex hair, two days of designer stubble, the perfectly faded jeans that hugged his lean frame, the beautiful smile and the confidence that dripped from him he might have pulled it off. No, he wouldn't. Ever.

"I might have been chided once or twice today for less than PG language." He grimaced and nodded towards Esme who stood in the archway of the dining room.

"Hi mom." I said looking from her to Edward and back again. "How long did he last?" I asked, knowing Edward wouldn't understand the question but that Esme would.

Esme laughed heartily and went back into the dining room calling, "It was truly pathetic Bella, four and a half minutes."

She was still laughing when Edward took Nessa from me and put her back on the rug only to come back for me.

He threw me to the floor by putting his leg through mine and making me fall across his thigh. I landed on the rug beside a giggling Nessa. Edward sat on my waist, holding my arms at my sides and hissing menacingly, but playfully for me to explain.

"Let me up you Neanderthal." I screeched.

He bent his head and kissed my mouth sloppily. "Not till you tell me what that exchange was all about." He grinned evilly.

I couldn't help but laugh. "Why didn't you just read it out of Esme's head?" I giggled.

"I did, but I want you to tell me anyway." He said smugly as he licked up my cheek making me thrash.

"Ew gross Edward." I bucked wildly trying to dislodge him. "Fine. I asked Esme to watch to see how long it was before you checked your phone for messages after I left." I laughed and heard Esme laughing again from the dining room.

"I see and do you agree with Esme's assessment that that makes me pathetic?" He furrowed his brows and squinted his eyes as though the answer was very important and could determine my punishment.

Since I was quite looking forward to Edward's brand of punishment I answered him with the truth. "I do Edward. I think it makes you really pathetic."

He hissed and leapt up off me. "I'll give you a ten second head start Bella." He nodded to the back door. "Go, I'm counting. One...two...three..."

I leapt up off the rug, kissed Nessa and as I flew out the backdoor I made sure to ask Esme to watch the baby.

I didn't even get to the jetty before Edward caught me.

He threw me into the river, clothes and all.

It was two hours before we made it back to the house after a shower and some clean clothes. By that time Nessa was down for her nap.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you've found something of interest in this chapter. Please review if you have, or review if you think I've strayed to far from the dark side where we all like to live. **


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19 – A big hole is dug.

19.

**BPOV**

I finished my last exam at midday on a Wednesday.

I was pleased to be done with the whole school scene.

I had hoped that by calling Lauren on her shit and letting her hit me it would put an end to the rivalry between us but instead it made me a minor celebrity.

With Lauren gone – she had the rest of the week off because her knuckle was dislocated and her shoulder badly bruised – Jessica was on her best behaviour and the whole school breathed a sigh of relief. It was as though the wicked witch was dead, if even for a little while.

My car was surrounded every morning by the group of boys that Edward had entertained with the Guardian and the Aston all those months ago. The Elise was a huge hit even though I didn't want the notoriety for myself. I didn't want to think about what would happen if Edward came in the Veyron at some point!

Each morning Alice and Jasper laughed their way into their classes and left me to deal with the clusters of people all eager to be seen with me before school and then again between classes and in the quad during the short break.

I was asked endless questions about the wedding, the honeymoon, Edward and how he was doing now that he'd finished school. What it was like being someone's wife and one girl even had the audacity to ask me to describe our wedding night, for research purposes of course.

Groups of girls insisted on sitting by me in the quad and at lunch on the one day I'd had to straddle the longer break to fit in three exams. My wedding rings were ogled, my charm bracelet poked prodded and twisted round and around my wrist by girls who swooned at Edward's generosity and sweetness.

I'd explained dozens of times the significance of my Cullen crest bangle and by the time my last exam was done I was glad to be free of them all.

When I hugged Angela goodbye in the parking lot I hoped it wasn't going to be the last time I saw her though I knew there was a good chance it might be. If it wasn't I knew that it might be a long time before I saw her again. I couldn't tell her about Nessa and there was no way I'd be able to have her at the cottage, ever. I would try hard to think of ways to see both her and Ben socially, at least.

I clutched the three lilac envelopes in my hand as I walked down the slope towards the parking lot for the last time. My high school career, here at least, was over.

**EPOV**

The first call came the second day of Bella's exams.

Esme had Nessa at the daycare centre visiting Renee which left me alone in the house for a rare few hours. When the house phone rang I had no precognition of what the call would mean, but Alice did.

"Cullen residence." I answered.

"Dear friend, this is Liam." That threw me.

"Liam, so good to hear from you, I trust all is well for you and yours?" I asked.

Before he had a chance to say anything my cell phone began beeping in my jeans pocket. I took it out and put it on the desk, I could see that the message was from Alice and assumed that she was just a few seconds late to tell me to expect his call.

"We are all very well, yes, thank you Edward. I thought it best that I let you know that we, and by that I mean Siobhan and myself, have been contacted by Stefan." He let that sink and then continued, "He was most interested to learn what he could from us about Bella and your Nessa. Of course we were both complimentary and told him how impressed we both were."

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. It begins. Fuck.

"Thank you for letting me know Liam, it is very much appreciated. I am sure their interest is innocuous." I said as calmly as I could.

"They merely enquired after their health and general wellbeing Edward, I am sure you are right, but thought it best to inform you." Liam said in an attempt to reassure me.

"Thank you for letting me know Liam."

We finished our call with inane pleasantries but the seed of doubt had been planted in my head and nothing would shift it now. The Romanians had begun their investigations.

I snatched up my cell phone and looked again at the display.

~Don't panic, they are only asking questions. No plans have been made. Al xx~

I didn't reply. Instead I made the decision to do as Alice had advised and I didn't panic. Of course they were free to ask as many questions as they liked and of course they would be curious about our two newest coven members. No matter the circumstances our ruling clan would be eager to know who had joined us. One phone call did not a vampire hunt make.

It had been both the longest and the most frustrating three days of my very long existence the days that Bella went to school without me. I now knew how it had been for her when I went on my own. She'd done much better than I had.

After the debacle of the 'fight' with Lauren, which we'd argued about at length, she attained something of an icon status which only increased my apprehension. Whilst I myself knew the depth of Bella's personality others were only just now beginning to see it for themselves. This made her alluring to the boys and extremely popular to the girls who now aspired to be just like her.

Alice had assured me that nobody was bothering her now that the school bullies had been effectively neutralised, but I still worried.

On her last day I gave in to my childish desires and left Nessa with Esme, insisting I needed to hunt, and took the opportunity to hang out close to the back of the school grounds. It was agonising being so close to her and not be able to approach her and it reminded me of the long decade I'd spent loving her from afar. At least now I could sate myself on her at night, even if I did have to relinquish her company for a few short hours of a day.

So I spent the last hour of her school time lying in the cool grass at the edge of the forest on the back boundary line of the playing fields. The mental voices came thick and fast to me. It had been a while since I'd been in the company of so many adolescent brains and it came as quite a shock to me just how many of them were thinking about Bella, me or our family.

When I heard Angela saying goodbye to Bella near the parking lot I made my way through the trees so that I was directly behind the Elise but still in the cover of the forest.

I watched Bella as she talked with her friends and said her goodbyes. She was so lovely. Her warm smile made those around her happy. They were all so eager to be near her now, to get to know her or me through her. I cringed whenever the girls thought _that._

She had the letters I'd written for her in her hand. I'd gotten Alice to push them through her locker door. Each time she'd found one she'd called me and we'd had to find a few minutes 'alone time' to discuss the contents of the letter. We never went as far as we had at other times on the phone, but we'd go just far enough that our passion would ignite the instant we'd lay eyes on each other after her exam.

Now she was clutching them as she walked towards her car. Soon she'd be able to smell me. I tried to stand as still as possible, which isn't difficult for a vampire who can go forever without moving or breathing.

I could tell the instant that my scent met her nostrils because she flared them and her eyes began to dart left and right to find me.

A slow, sly smile came across her beautiful lips when I let the oxygen I had been holding in my lungs out. I blew it out across my tongue so it would catch the scent of my venom and take it to her on the wind. While she took it in she closed her eyes and stood still, right beside the Elise. I watched, enthralled, as her tongue came out of her mouth and licked her bottom lip once, then again. "I can smell you." She whispered so lowly I had to strain to hear it clearly. I watched as she moved from foot to foot as though she was suddenly uncomfortable. "Can you smell me?" She asked but I stayed silent. She transferred her car keys to the hand that held the letters and with her now free hand she ran her fingers through her hair so her scent would flood the immediate area.

It hit me full on in the face, almost bringing me to my knees. I'd not told her I was coming, I hadn't said a word, she couldn't see me and the only indication I was there at all was my scent on the air. And yet she was aroused. It was mixed with her ordinary scent and it clung to my clothing as it settled around me. I wanted to capture it in my mouth and savour it but I knew if I moved she'd find me visually and the game would end. I wished she could still read me.

Deftly she pushed the alarm button on her key ring and opened the drivers door. She flung her book bag and the letters onto the drivers seat and reclosed the door. She slipped the keys into the pocket of her jeans and smiled into the tree line.

**BPOV**

I smelled him just as I reached the Elise. I searched the trees for him but couldn't see him. I wondered if he could see me or if he was hidden behind a tree. I knew it was Edward, his scent was so distinct, I'd know it anywhere. And this was fresh.

His breath came to me on a slight gust of air and I drank it in hungrily. The sweet tang of his venom was laced with his scent and it floored me, making my panties flood with instant desire. It was always like this. I hoped it always would be.

Once I'd disposed of my books and letters I returned to scanning the trees to see if I could find him by sight. I couldn't. But I knew he was close. I wished I could still read him.

I slipped the Elise keys back into my jeans pocket and then I began to search for him. I took the first few steps into the trees hesitantly. He'd not given any indication that he wanted to be found and what I assumed was a game could very well end up being dangerous. So until I was sure what he wanted from me I had to be cautious as I'd been taught.

"I can smell you. You've stood right here." I said to the empty woods. I inhaled deeply where I stood and took in another lung full of his pungent aroma. "I'll find you Edward." I told him confidently. A few more feet into the trees I smelled his scent stronger again. He'd touched the tree I was touching. "I can smell your venom, I want it, in my mouth." I teased.

"Jesus Christ." I heard very faintly from my right.

I couldn't help the small giggle that escaped my lips. I had him now and he knew it. I kept my movements slow but I made them more deliberate. I began to stalk him. I'd know if he moved so I hoped he'd be smart enough to stay put until I found him.

I took short strides and was careful to stand on any fallen sticks or branches, breaking them under my feet, so that he'd know I was close. If I couldn't see him I assumed that meant he couldn't see me. He either had his back to a tree or he was up it. "Couldn't you wait until I got home Edward?" I teased. "You had to come here?"

A few more feet and his scent became impossibly stronger. I looked up and searched the surrounding trees, they were empty. I stood still and leant over at the waist so that I could look behind the trees in my immediate area. I still didn't see him. That left me one of two trees left to search. One was fairly thin and it was unlikely he'd fit behind it without at least his clothing sticking out so that left me with a thick knobbly one slightly to my left.

Now I was careful to be quieter. I wasn't naive enough to think he couldn't smell me and he could hear me no matter how careful I was, but I wanted to play the game properly. When I was two feet from the tree I began to undress. When my shirt hit the forest floor I began to whisper to him.

"I seem to have lost my top. I wonder if Edward would care that I'm standing in the forest with no shirt on?" I teased. I unhooked my bra and slid it down my forearms and off, dropping it on top of my t-shirt. "Oh no, now my bra has fallen off. Well look at that, my nipples are hard because it's so cold out." I giggled. I toed my shoes off and then I yanked my socks off and threw them with my shoes. I undid the zip on my jeans carefully, being sure to exaggerate the motions so he could hear each tooth as it was set free from the metal carriage. I pulled them off and then I was stood there in only my panties. I felt a little silly but when I heard Edward suck in his breath I knew my effort wasn't for nothing. "I think I'll count this time. Edward counted the other day and I had to start running, this time I'll count." I giggled lightly. I turned so I was facing away from the tree and back towards the school parking lot. I turned my head so I could speak over my shoulder, "On the count of three, if Edward hasn't appeared and declared his intentions I'm going to run back to the school and streak through the grounds." I knew that would drive him insane, he wouldn't be able to handle that at all. "Ready, one...two..."

I didn't get to finish the countdown because the growl that came out from behind the tree was very quickly followed by my scowling husband. His eyes were pitch black and his face was twisted into a feral snarl. He looked me up and down and then he launched himself at me, both of us crashing to the ground, me underneath him.

"I can smell how wet you are you dirty, dirty girl." He hissed before covering my mouth with his. He forced his tongue between my teeth and kissed me roughly. Letting my lips go with a loud smack he pulled his face back so I could see him. "I'm declaring my intentions." He rasped. "I intend to fuck you right here on the ground. Any objections put them in writing." And with that he took my mouth again.

**EPOV**

By the time I was kissing her I was out of control.

My nose was on fire, filled with the scent of her arousal as she had stalked towards where I was hiding.

What had started out as a simple surprise, to be there waiting for her when she finished school, became a strange game of cat and mouse that now had us both writhing on the forest floor.

I knew she couldn't be harmed by lying amongst the bracken but I didn't want her to be uncomfortable. I flipped us, pulling her onto my chest, never breaking the kiss. I held her face to mine with both my hands in her hair, pulling her harder and harder to me so I could delve my tongue into her mouth deeper and deeper. Her venom was flowing steadily and it was mixing with my own to create our own special brand of intoxicant.

Her breasts were pressed up against my still clothed chest and I hated it. I should've stripped while I'd been standing behind the tree but I had been too dumb to do it. Now I'd have to break the kiss so I could get out of my clothes.

Bella straddled my hips and pulled out of my kiss. "The shirt Edward, it needs to be gone." And then she tore it from me. "You'll need the jeans to go home in, but if they aren't gone in ten seconds they'll join the shirt." She hissed down at me.

I was about to defy her simply to have the pleasure of her ripping my jeans off me, but then I considered going home to collect Nessa and having to explain my lack of pants to Esme. I lifted my hips, which made Bella moan because my prick pressed harder into her dripping wet centre as I did. I shimmied my pants over my hips and toed them off my booted feet.

I slid my fingers into the sides of her panties and used my nails to slit the silky material. "You won't be needing those." I told her as I flung them towards my discarded jeans. "But I'll keep them for myself." I said, smiling wickedly and loving the way she bit her lip as my words sunk into her brain.

I lay underneath her, ready for her to have her way with me whenever she chose to begin. I watched her gaze travel from my mouth to my chest, down to my waist and back up again. A small, sly grin spread across her lips and then she rose on her knees and reached between us, taking me into her hot little hand. She positioned me at her entrance and then looked into my eyes once again, "You're mine Edward." She snarled, baring her teeth at the same instant that she slid herself down over my cock.

"Ahhhh..." I moaned as she swallowed my length. Her warm wetness enveloped me wholly and I closed my eyes as the lust inside me burst. I waited for her thoughts to come to me now that we were joined.

She threw herself forward and her lips clashed with mine, teeth knocking against each other in our desperation to consume the other. _'I always want you so badly...can't help myself...Edward...Edward...Edward...' _She told me silently as she began to rise and fall on me.

I clutched her hipbones between my splayed fingers and pushed and pulled her until the rhythm we set was a blur. 'You're so fucking beautiful Bella.' I told her as I lifted my hips to match her bouncing. I reached my hands around her and clamped them down on her ass cheeks. I used them to set a frenzied pace. I pushed her back so that she sheathed me completely, then pulled her forwards so she slid up and almost completely off me before I pushed her back once again. She was panting into my mouth, her tongue lazily stroking mine with no real purpose, while she concentrated wholly on riding me.

_'So good Edward...missed you so much...so good...' _Even her thoughts were hurried, expressed in a rush as she bucked wildly above me. She threw herself upwards and stared down at me, all the while lifting herself onto and then off me, forcing herself down onto me so I could force myself deeper up into her. _'I'm getting close...make me Edward...make me, for you...' _she begged me silently.

I wanted her to cum for me so badly but I couldn't control it from underneath her. I put both my hands across her back and held her firmly while I shifted us, swapping our positions until she was under me once again. Never letting her go, holding her with one hand under her shoulders, the other in her hair, I stared down into her beautiful amber eyes and made love to her until she was silently screaming my name in her brain.

'That's it my beauty...cum for me...give it up for me...yes...yes...yes...yes...' I told her over and over as she came undone in my arms.

_'Ahh...Edward...yes...so good...so deep...all yours...' _She chanted while she came for me.

I let her hair go and braced myself at the side of her head, fisting the cold wet earth beside her face. 'All fucking mine.' I growled in my thoughts as I restarted thrusting inside her. 'All mine...I love you so much...all mine.' I growled again as she wrapped her legs around my ass and held me inside her.

She sunk her teeth into my bottom lip, making me hiss my pleasure into her mouth as I bucked into her wildly. I loved the sting of her venom on my skin, in my skin, as she bit me from ear to shoulder down the side of my neck. Jesus! If she didn't cut it out I'd be done for in seconds!

"Yyyyeeessssss!" She hissed between her lips, slowly. "I want you to lose it." She said out loud. _'Tell me it's too good...tell me you can't help it baby...' _she thought.

I slid a hand back into her hair and stared once again down into her eyes. I watched as she licked her teeth and her venom sparkled across her bottom lip. I wanted it. I needed to taste it as I came inside her. 'Too good Bella...I can't wait...I can't help it...too quick, so sorry...' I trailed off as the first clench of my orgasm made itself known deep in my gut.

She forced her tongue into my mouth and swiped her icy venom across my lip, making it tingle. '_Cum now.' _She screeched in her brain. _'Take me with you.' _

'Oh fuck!' I thought as the white hot pressure burst out of me and into her. She bucked and writhed underneath me, clutching at my ass with her nails, pulling me into her tightly. I was coherent enough to know that she wasn't cumming so I lowered my mouth to her throat and bit, hard. 'You cum for me now Isabella.' I demanded.

'_Holy fuck!' _She bellowed in her brain, the climax overtaking her as my teeth found purchase in her flesh.

I spilled into her, releasing all the pent up desire within me, a pulsing hot flow of my seed filling her as her inner muscles clamped down on me. She clutched at my back and raked her nails over my shoulder blades as she sighed through her second release. "Yes...that's it baby." I cooed as she came back down to earth from her high.

I flipped us over once again and cradled her against my chest so she wasn't lying on the forest floor. We'd never be cold and nothing on the ground could hurt us, but I was still her husband and a man, a gentleman at that. I stroked her hair, her shoulders, and the curve of her hip as she panted through the last of her exertions.

"I love you baby." She whispered, kissing me just above my right nipple.

"I love you too honey." I kissed the top of her head. "I only came out here to ride home with you, evil woman." I laughed. She swatted at my hipbone with her little fingers and I caught them in my hand and bought them to my mouth. I kissed her wedding rings and held her hand in mine. "Okay, so maybe I hoped we'd have a moment to ourselves before we went home and collected Nessa." I admitted with a little chuckle.

"Hmmm, mission accomplished Edward." She whispered.

**BPOV**

Five days later the bulldozers arrived at the big house to install the pool.

I remember the day and the exact time because it also marked the first time Nessa crawled. She was exactly six weeks old, and it happened in the cottage at exactly the same time as the first digger started up and began digging the trench for the pipe work for the pool.

We'd heard the rumbling of the machinery as it came in from the highway, some on the back of huge flatbed trucks but others under their own steam. Nessa heard them too and she stared wide eyed at the front door of the cottage as the ground began to shake with the noise.

"It's alright little one, they are just big, big diggers come to dig Nana-me's pool!" Edward consoled the frightened little girl.

I didn't blame her for being scared, it was bloody loud. It would've been loud for a human and so it was doubly aurally invasive for us. Luckily the workmen had been paid to be quick. Edward told us both that it would only take a couple of days for the main hole to be finished, then the fibreglass liner would simply be dropped into the hole and then some other workmen would come to do the tiling and the surrounds. Electricians and plumbers would crawl all over the site to install all the pumps and associated equipment and then the builders would arrive to begin the building of the glass house that would eventually encase the whole thing.

While Edward was explaining the process to me Nessa – who had been sitting in the middle of the living room floor happily chewing Edward's old cell phone – simply toppled herself forward, put her hands on the floor and crawled out of the open front door.

Edward and I stood, mouths agape, and watched her little wiggling bottom go out the door. I looked to him, he looked to me and then we both flew out of the door and into the front yard.

There she sat, as primly as ever, on her bottom on one of the limestone stepping stones, phone still between her teeth, chewing happily and looking towards the god awful rumbling away in the distance.

"Nana-me is having a new pool daddy." She pointed towards the noise and then went back to chewing.

Edward and I burst out laughing and then we descended on her, both telling her how amazing she was.

By the time Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Rosie and Seth arrived for their morning visit Renesmee had crawled from one end of the cottage to the other several times. Each time she came back to the living room with something different to show us. We were to sit – as requested by our six week old daughter mind you – perfectly still on the sofa while she bought us her favourite things to inspect.

First she bought me 'Frank', the pale pink stuffed giraffe that Jasper bought her. Then she bought Edward her 'Hungry Little Caterpillar' book. We added the silver spoon and cup that her god parents had given her at her christening and then she bought out her jewellery box.

In it were all the pieces she'd been given as gifts the day of the baptism. We were asked to sit patiently while she took each piece out of the box and showed it to us in the order of importance to her. There was a beautiful rosary, a bangle, earrings, birthstone bracelets and pendants, necklaces of all lengths and types and a silver brush, comb and mirror that my parents had given her.

By far her most precious possessions though were the dream catchers that hung above her cribs both here and at the big house. Seth had made them both and Nessa adored them.

A close second were her hairclips from Nana-me and Pa. A pair of gold clips with the Cullen crest set in little amber discs that Nessa wore in her hair every single day. She adored them and were the first things she asked for when Edward was finished brushing out her curls.

Edward said she loved the charm bracelet we'd bought her, but nothing could eclipse her love of those beaded circles above her bed or the crests she wore in her hair.

I had a neat pile of her possessions on the coffee table in front of me when our daily visitors arrived.

Much celebrating and praise was heaped on our talented daughter before everyone else headed off to their various places of work and schooling.

We decided to stick close to the cottage while the workmen were about because whilst it wasn't sunny it wasn't overcast either. Nessa would be fine but Edward and I would more than likely raise questions. So we took Nessa as close as we could so she could see the diggers but we had to return to the cottage when the sun came out proper. We promised her we'd go to the big house earlier the next day so we'd already be there when the workmen arrived. That way she could watch the big machines from the safety of our room on the third floor. It would be quite a view from that high up.

We took advantage of the clearer skies and took Nessa into the little courtyard and took an entire memory card full of photos of her in various poses and with both of us in various combinations. By the time we were interrupted by Edward's cell phone ringing we'd been out there all day.

I took Nessa inside for her afternoon nap while Edward took his call in the courtyard.

Nessa asked for Frank and soon she was snuffling softly in her sleep. I patted her bottom for a few minutes longer and then I went into the study.

"Everything alright?" I asked as Edward came in to join me.

"Of course, just Alice being a pain." He joked.

Pulling me down into his lap on the window seat and reaching for my novel he kissed my hair and asked me to read from where we'd left off the night before. I was happy to oblige and set about finding our spot on the page.

**EPOV**

The second call was from Mary. She and Julian had been contacted separately but at the same time. Stefan had called Julian, Vladimir had called her. The questions had been the same as those asked of Liam the week before. She assured me they were harmless questions about Nessa and Bella's health and as much as the panic within me knew it was likely much more than that, I had no choice but to agree with her.

I thanked her for letting me know, passed our good wishes on to both her and Julian and accepted hers for us.

I closed my eyes and let Bella's angelic voice calm me as she read. I had no idea what it was she was saying because my brain was too busy imploding with fear. It couldn't be coincidence that two separate covens – albeit one a nomadic one and one the long established Irish coven that had nothing in common with each other – had been contacted and questioned but no attempt to contact us had been made.

What Alice made of this I didn't know because this time I had no message from her prior to, or during, Mary's call. She either hadn't seen it or something was wrong.

When Bella came to the end of the chapter and said she should use what was left of Nessa's nap time to do her chores I, for once, didn't try to change her mind and suggest something a little more intimate for our free time.

She cocked an eyebrow at me when I went along with her chores plan but said nothing and went out into the laundry room to collect the clean clothes from the dryer.

As the scent of the clean linen wafted through the house I tapped out my message for Alice.

~ Another call. Mary and Julian contacted. What have you seen? E xx~

Once that had been sent I tapped another out to Carlisle.

~What shift are you on? I need to speak with you, in private. Edward. ~

While I waited for my replies to come in I reached for my journal and began a new list on a scrap of paper tucked into the leather pouch on the inside cover.

Mary and Julian.

Liam and Siobhan.

I told myself that I wouldn't panic until that list included at least one, or a pair, from each of the covens who'd attended the christening. If that ever came about the others would have to believe my concerns. At least then we could make a plan. I'd feel better with a plan in place.

My cell phone beeped and I snatched it up eagerly.

~I have an hour now if you can get here. Carlisle. ~

I snatched up my keys off the desk and went to find Bella.

She was sitting on the edge of our bed folding laundry. I kissed her at her temple and told her Carlisle wanted a hand with some patient notes. She smiled, probably thinking how much I'd enjoy that seeing as I couldn't practise myself, and said to hurry back. I told her I loved her and then ran out the glass doors and away to the house.

By the time I was sitting in the Aston ready to leave Alice was texting me her reply.

~ They were simple, polite questions. No harm done or intended as far as I could see. Plse don't freak out. Luv ya, Al xx ~

Yeah, don't freak out Ed I thought as I gunned the Aston out onto the highway and headed for the hospital.

Carlisle had taken the same stance as Alice.

So what if the Romanians were contacting other covens to ask about ours? We hadn't done anything wrong and the questions were fairly predictable in their nature, not insidious or menacing at all. Simply questions about our well being and the wellbeing of the two newest members.

I'd asked Carlisle if he thought it odd that we ourselves hadn't been contacted, considering it was our wellbeing that was being asked after.

He thought on it for a moment and then smiled.

"Perhaps they are working from a list, we are known as the Olympic Coven, we'd be farther down the list than the Irish or the American Nomads." He chuckled.

I laughed because if that was the reason then I was an ass and he was bloody clever.

"Okay, so you think I'm being overly protective." I chuckled at his subtle nod. "Oh, by the way, your granddaughter started crawling this morning." I said proudly. Okay, it was actually smugly.

With his fingers steepled under his chin he began to grin. "Well, isn't that incredible?" He mused quietly. He pulled a folder out from under the thirty or so that always adorned his desktop and he made a note in it. "Six weeks old. Amazing. I'm predicting she'll walk before the 17th. That's eight weeks old." He chuckled.

"Probably." I agreed. "The rate at which her language skills progress is astonishing, so her walking at two months old wouldn't surprise me in the least."

_'You're so lucky.' _He thought.

I smiled and nodded. I am. I knew it.

**BPOV**

The diggers had cut up Esme's lovely lawn as they made their way around the side of the house each day to get into the backyard.

By the end of the first week of construction there was a deep trench carved around the side of the house by the tracks of the machines. Esme stood looking forlornly at what used to be her lawn.

"It'll grow back, won't it?" I asked as Nessa and I made our approach to the big house for the day.

Esme turned and smiled at us. She reached for Nessa, who reached for her just as automatically. Once they'd hugged each other and Nessa had put her hand to her grandmother's cheek for a few seconds Esme turned her attention back to me. "It will grow back, yes. Eventually."

She didn't look too worried about it though. "What are you planning?" I asked.

She smiled widely, "Once the structure is finished the landscapers are coming to repair it all." She smiled again and I knew it wouldn't be ordinary, plain lawn by the time she'd finished with it this time. "What do you have planned for today Bella?"

"I have a memory card to print and process. And you?" I asked as we walked inside.

"Miss Nessa and I have a date with Pa's study wall." She said cryptically as Nessa began to clap her little hands in anticipation.

"The study wall?" I asked.

"Carlisle's history is on that wall. The portraits tell his story." She said wistfully. "Today Nessa is going to learn it." She smiled indulgently down at the little girl in her arms.

"Mind if I come along for a little bit?" I asked.

Esme beamed at me and then looked to Nessa. "What do you say Nessa? Can mommy come too?"

Nessa began clapping faster and reaching for me, "Mommy come to!" She bellowed, making Esme wince. "Mommy to school with Nessa!" She yelled.

I couldn't help but laugh. Edward had told me about her wanting to go to school with me so I guess in a way she was right. I would learn right alongside my daughter.

"I guess that's a yes." Esme giggled and led the way up to the second floor.

When Edward joined us at the big house that afternoon he looked drawn and tense. He'd been this way on and off over the past few weeks though he swore nothing was wrong. Nobody else seemed apprehensive or particularly worried about anything so I put it down as normal fatherly, and or husbandly, worry.

Nessa was growing so fast, learning new things every day. Her vocabulary was shockingly complex now. She was learning from all the reading being done with her and she had begun to read on her own only a few days before. To say that we'd been shocked was an understatement.

The three of us had been lying on the big bed in our bedroom at the cottage reading a picture book to the sleepy little girl when Edward's cell phone rang. He leapt out of the bed to retrieve it from the study and in his haste he passed the book to Nessa, rather than me. I was about to take it from her and continue reading from where he left off when Nessa herself began to.

I shouted to Edward to come and look and after he finished his call he ran back to us and stood, mouth agape, and watched and listened as his seven week old daughter read to me from The Cat in the Hat.

So now I was wondering if what was bothering Edward was the steady progression from baby to child that was our daughter. I too thought it was sad that we'd have such a short time to enjoy her being tiny, but she was so happy all the time, always laughing and smiling, it was hard to be sad near her.

**EPOV**

Bella stared at me on and off for hours after I arrived at the big house that day. I knew she was getting frustrated with me. I knew she was worried because I was worried and she didn't know what about. I knew that at some point she was going to cease being patient and then I'd have a rather large problem on my hands. But for now I couldn't say anything about what was playing on my mind. The longer it took for this particular cat to be let out of its shit strewn bag the better for everyone.

The phone call from Aro had come while we'd been reading with Nessa. He told me that both he and Tanya – she had been visiting him in Italy when the call came for him – had been asked about their recent associations with the Cullen clan. I added them to the list in my journal and silently cursed.

The Romanians, by contacting Aro while Tanya was there with him, had effectively crossed two covens off my list. That left only three that had been left unapproached. I was beginning to panic despite Alice' assurances that the questions had once again remained polite and innocent.

I had been spending time with Carlisle at the hospital the past few days for two reasons. One, to keep my mind active. If I sat in the cottage or at the house with nothing to do other than play I'd end up playing dirges or funeral marches and the jig would be up. The second reason was because Carlisle was beginning to come around to my way of thinking, despite Alice rolling her eyes almost constantly at us for being 'worry warts'. Charming turn of phrase that it was.

Bella assumed, and I didn't correct the thought, that I just wanted to spend time at the hospital because it was the closest I'd ever come to actually practising real medicine. In its own way that was true. I had always enjoyed going through patient notes with Carlisle and while I didn't ever actually get any hands on practise it was enough to help him with the more complicated cases that came across his desk on paper.

So as Nessa marched on towards two months old I was becoming more and more frightened. Bella was becoming more and more aware of my melancholia and my family were slowly starting to come around to my way of thinking. Finally. It hadn't been easy, especially with Emmett and Esme who always preferred to see the good in people rather than the greed or the bad.

That all changed rather abruptly one Friday when the postman bought Carlisle a surprise.

Amun sent a telegram announcing he'd been contacted by Vladimir and had been asked to explain his opinion of our 'witch' daughter. That's when things in the big house shifted. I felt bad but when the opportunity to discuss the situation with my brothers and sisters, minus my wife and daughter who had decided to visit with Renee and Charlie one evening presented itself, we leapt on the chance.

* * *

**A/N: Anyone want to lend Edward a shovel for that hole he's digging? Please review if you have found something of interest in the chapter. Also, if you think I've murdered the plot let me know that too. ;)**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20 – Not so much a hole, more a well.

20.

**EPOV**

"I vote yes." Emmett.

"No." Esme.

"I don't want to vote." Alice pouted. Carlisle shot her a look and she huffed lightly. "Fine, I vote yes."

"Jaz?" I asked.

"In the interests of my own peace of mind I vote no. For now." He shook his head solemnly.

"No." A very stern no it was too from Rosalie.

"Carlisle?" I asked. "What about you?"

He rubbed his hand across his face once more and then he looked around the room. He sighed before answering, "At this point I have to vote no. But I reserve the right to change my mind at any time." He said emphatically.

I sighed in relief. "Good. So that's five votes for no, two for yes. Sorry guys, the nays have it." I wanted to smile but thought better of it when I saw the scowls on my sister and my brothers faces. "So for now we don't tell Bella any of this." That, ultimately, was the core of the vote.

"This is a big, big mistake Edward." Alice folded her arms across her chest and grimaced as she played for me her vision of the fight Bella and I were going to have when she realized I'd kept this from her.

Even I had to cringe when I saw the rage Bella was in. "I'll deal with that if and when it happens Alice. For now I think this is the right thing to do. She'll only worry and that won't help. It will be impossible to keep from Nessa if Bella knows. You can agree with that, at least?" I asked her and Emmett who were now _both _sitting with their arms crossed.

_'It's wrong Edward. She's your wife. She deserves to be party to this, it affects her.' _Emmett tried to reason with me in his head but I wasn't having it.

"I didn't say I'd never tell her Emmett, I'm just saying I don't want to tell her until I know more." I bargained. Still he scowled. "I have to think of Seth too, if Bella knows she'll want Seth to know. If Seth knows I can't guarantee how long it will be before Nessa knows. I can't let that happen." It was my trump card for this argument and the minute I said it the atmosphere in the room changed. I'd made my point. They all agreed with me now, this had to be kept as quiet as possible.

"All right. This is getting us nowhere. We've voted, majority rules as ever, the vote is nay. Nobody tells Bella anything until Edward does, or we vote again. Let's hope nothing comes of it, and then we'll never have to admit we voted." Carlisle said sternly, staring straight at me. "Now, what do you propose we do in the meantime?"

"No decision to come here has been made so there isn't anything we can do." Alice told him. "But we can ask around, contact the other covens and find out exactly what they were asked. Maybe if we know the actual wording of the questions we'll be able to work out what sort of answers they were looking for and why?"

It was a good suggestion and it was something that could easily be achieved without alerting Bella. "Can I leave that with you guys?" I asked, they all nodded.

"Edward?" Esme said quietly. "You've made provision for them, haven't you son?" She asked.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "I have."

I left it at that and ran home to wait for my wife and child to come home.

**BPOV**

Whatever had been bothering Edward seemed to melt away in the week that followed the digging of the pool.

By the time the fibreglass liner went into the ground – we'd all stood at the glass windows and watched as it was hoisted over the top of the house by an enormous crane anchored in the front yard – he had returned to his usual self again.

I was so relieved.

I tried to remain patient, as I'd promised Jaz the night of the christening, but my resolve was wavering. So by the time Edward snapped out of it himself I was almost ready to beg him to share.

Carlisle's prediction that Nessa would walk around the eight week mark was off by only ten days.

On Sunday March 27th Nessa took her first steps. When I say steps I mean she ran. She bypassed tottering, she bypassed teetering and she bypassed both her father and I and ran to her Nana-me. She was nine weeks and three days old.

Because Nessa had enjoyed the playground equipment at Renee's daycare centre that day we thought we'd make a day of it and take her there again before the centre actually opened the following week and was overrun by human children.

Renee was already there when we arrived and it wasn't long before the whole family, Seth and Charlie included, had joined us for some afternoon fun.

She squealed in delight at being pushed on the see-saw by Emmett. Her whoops of joy as Rose took her on the merry-go-round were only matched in intensity by her hollers of excitement over being pushed on the swings by her father and her Poppa.

What surprised me most of all was Alice who spent an hour with her in the sandbox making the most elaborate castle – complete with moat – out of the moist nursery sand. Alice was caked in it by the time Nessa decided she wanted to go and play with Jasper in the cubby house. I expected Alice to rush inside, into one of the bathrooms, and clean the sand off herself as soon as possible. Instead she continued the build and when I took my camera out and began taking snaps she happily posed with her complex structure.

Jasper was made to drink endless cups of pretend tea while Nessa served pretend cakes and cookies to Renee and Esme who sat, rather uncomfortably, in the tiny chairs inside the playhouse.

When Renee suggested that all that was missing from the perfect scene inside the cubby was an apron for the chef (Renesmee) and that there was a box of dress ups inside it was Nessa who ran – yes ran – in through the double glass doors and inside to locate the box.

There was no warning. There was no build up. There was no hint that she wanted to, or was ready to walk let alone run. She simply decided that she wanted an apron like her Nana-me wore when she was cooking and nothing was going to prevent her from having it. So she ran inside to find one.

This was how Edward described it to us later.

At the time we were all just shocked. We probably looked like a school of fish. All bug eyed and gaping as we sat in various areas of the playground and watched our daughter niece and granddaughter get to her feet and run towards the doors. She stopped at the join where the two halves met, got onto her tip toes and prised them apart deftly before continuing her run inside. All that could be heard was the sound of her soft little ballet shoes tapping lightly on the linoleum flooring as she ran from room to room looking for the dress ups box.

"I have a pink one Nana-me!" She trilled as she located the box and extracted the apron she wanted. I couldn't see her, but I could hear her.

Once again the light tapping of her shoes echoed through the empty building and then she ran back through the doors, stopping politely to close it, then she simply ran back across the playground and into the little playhouse. She held the apron out to her Uncle Jasper who, with trembling hands, tied it around her tiny waist.

"Thank you Unca Jaz." She bowed her head to him in thanks as though he was a visiting dignitary and then she returned to the little kitchen sink where she pretended to wash the dishes 'just like mommy does'.

**EPOV**

"Holy shit!" I couldn't help but shout it.

"Edward!" Esme chastised me sternly.

"Sorry Esme." I mumbled.

"Naughty daddy." Nessa giggled to a slack jawed Jasper.

I turned to Bella who was equally as stunned as I was. Then I looked to Seth who was sat on the edge of a row of rubber tyres, his mouth twisted into a proud smile.

"I saw that, did everyone else?" Emmett asked with a laugh.

A cacophony of yeses and a few mumbled what the hell's were exchanged and then I went to where Bella sat at a low table and chairs with Rosalie. I kneeled down beside her and looked into her shocked face. "Well, I guess she can walk then." Bella whispered.

I laughed. "I guess she can." I agreed. She turned her face to mine and I could see the mix of pride, pleasure and pain in her eyes. I cupped her cheek with my hand and ran my thumb under her eye. "If you could cry I bet you would be my love." I whispered, bending over and kissing her lightly at the corner of her mouth.

She was nodding minutely against me. "She's so little Edward. It's so soon." She sobbed.

I pulled her to me and held her against my chest as I stroked her back and her hair. "I know it is. I know, love. But it's done now." I tried to placate her.

She pulled away and nodded once. "It is." And then she laughed. Really laughed.

The tension was gone, the pain on her face was replaced by joy and then everyone joined us. We congratulated Renesmee who looked at us as though we were idiots. Her thoughts were confused, she didn't know why we were praising her so I asked everyone to give it up and she just went back to her game of force feeding Charlie pretend crackers with jam on them.

I went and sat with Carlisle at another low table and chair arrangement. He was thinking how wonderful she was, how impressive her learning capabilities were and how very, very lucky we were that she was both happy and healthy.

"We are." I agreed, without him having to voice the thought first.

He smiled at me and nodded. '_She still refuses human food?'_ He asked silently and I nodded. '_Now that she walks, or runs, she needs to be taught to hunt then.'_ He nodded to where she was now playing with Bella and Rosie under the wide awning.

The two women were kneeling in front of a long trough of coloured water. They were tipping the blue stained water from one cup to another, trickling it in dribs and drabs while Nessa watched wide eyed.

She was trying to decide whether this was fun or whether it was another elaborate attempt by us to make her drink human things. She saw the coloured water like she saw milk. I laughed out loud, making Carlisle startle and plead with me to tell him what was so funny.

I pointed to the girls, "Nessa doesn't want to be made to drink it." I chuckled.

He burst out laughing as did Emmett Seth and Jasper, who then had to explain the joke to Renee and Charlie. They too started laughing.

Bella, Rosie and Nessa turned to us at the same time, the same questions in their thoughts. Bella, of course, had to voice hers for me. "What's so funny?"

I ran down the little slope and kneeled beside Nessa. "This isn't a drink little one, it's for fun. You can play with it, not drink it." I told her seriously.

'_Not food?' _She asked me silently, screwing up her eyes at the thought.

"No my beauty, not food. It's only for fun." I grabbed a funnel and Bella grabbed a cup and we showed our daughter how to pour it and then she tentatively picked up a cup and had a go too.

The instant her hands hit the cool water she was lost to it. In her mind it was the most fun she'd ever had, besides actual swimming. We had a hell of a time extracting her from that trough when it was time to go home for her nap. She was exhausted, almost swaying with the creeping tiredness she was feeling, but like her mother she was so stubborn she refused to cave in.

In the end it was only the promise of more water play at home that got her to drop the cups and bottles long enough to be changed into clean dry clothes for the trip home.

**BPOV**

Over the following few weeks we did as many fun childish things with Nessa as we could reasonably cram into her days.

She grew so fast we both worried that the opportunity to do some things would pass her by if we didn't act fast.

We did the most childish things first, the things that were more for her age than others. We went to Port Angeles to toy shops and further afield to picnic areas with playgrounds where she could run and play without us needing to worry about being noticed or recognised. We took her to see Dora the Explorer at the huge shopping mall where I'd gone that day for the christening gifts. She loved that, clapping and cheering while the stupid woman in the costume pranced about nonsensically on the stage. Nessa looked just like all the other little girls who were seeing their favourite character come to life. The only difference was while our daughter looked like she was two she was really only five months old.

We spent an entire day at a children's farm which turned out to be as much fun for Edward and I as it did for Nessa. Edward had tried to talk me out of taking her because he knew the animals would react badly to us. He didn't want Nessa to be frightened or disappointed when she couldn't pet them like other children would be able to. But in the end she was oblivious to it all. The animals were terrified of us, all three of us, of course. To them we were unnatural. To Nessa it was just fun to watch the horses get skittish and run from us as fast as they could. She didn't care that they didn't want to come near her. She wasn't bothered when the baby goats kicked out their back legs in their haste to get away from her, from us. She just laughed and clapped and squealed and asked her questions as she did with everything else.

She liked the baby chickens the best. There were just so many of them that even when they ran from her it looked as though they were just running amok in their little pen. She looked no different from the other children when she carefully picked her way through the hundreds of chicks. She clutched one carefully in her tiny hand and bought it to the edge of the enclosure for Edward and I to see.

"Look daddy. It's yellow." She marvelled. "It's very soft." She stroked it gently even as it writhed in her hand in terror.

"It's very beautiful Nessa." Edward agreed.

She placed it back on the ground and went to find another one to love. Edward's eyes never left her as she made her way around the chickens. Another little girl, maybe two or two and a half years old, was having trouble catching one to pet for herself so Nessa bent down and scooped one up.

"Hold out your hands please." She asked the little girl who did as she was bid.

Nessa very carefully placed the chick into the girl's hands. When her fingers had curled around it Nessa whispered, "Don't squeeze too hard or it will pop. My Unca Emmett told me that." She nodded wisely and then turned to find another chicken to hold for herself.

We took her to Seattle one day to the museum, which she loved, and another day we took her to the aquarium. It took her a little while to get comfortable with the massive sharks and turtles that swam overhead, but once she was sure she was safe under the glass she sat in her pusher and ogled each and every fish intensely.

She asked intelligent questions – very quietly as Edward had asked her to, so as not to frighten or startle any humans who heard her choice of vocabulary – and often she asked questions neither Edward nor I could answer.

So on some nights, after we'd taken her out for the day, Edward and I spent our nights searching for the answers to the questions she'd asked.

After spending a few days learning about antiques at the big house from Esme's collections and her books, Esme decided to take her on a physical antiquing jaunt. They left early in the morning and returned late at night, both exhausted and happy to share what they'd found. Esme told us that it was Nessa who had found the most interesting piece, a lamp with a solid brass filigree stand. She'd also managed to point out a fake candelabrum to Esme, who had considered buying it until Nessa quite correctly pointed out the hallmark was stamped into it rather than engraved, as it should have been. The only time I'd seen Esme quite so proud was the day she watched Edward marry.

It was Edward who introduced her to the cinema. I didn't think sitting in a dark room for two hours with the warm human bodies sounded like my idea of fun, so while Edward took her to Port Angeles to see Harry Potter I stayed home and developed all the photos of our previous excursions.

When they returned she showed me, in intricate detail, the experience she'd had. Edward was sure she had wanted to try the popcorn because her thoughts were flooded with how the salty smell assaulted her palate throughout the whole film. When asked she screwed up her nose and said an emphatic 'no' but both Edward and I could tell that the no wasn't quite as forceful as it normally was. Perhaps there was hope that she'd at least try human food soon.

The film itself she thought was okay, nothing special. She had seemed more interested in a trailer for a film about life under the sea, which had been advertised prior to the film starting, and was to be shown on a 3D screen the following week. So Edward promised to take her to that, of course. It seemed we really had created a water baby!

Midway through April, Rose and Emmett headed off to use his Christmas present. They were to have two weeks in Hibernation Lodge in Yellowstone National Park. Emmett was so excited as they were leaving. He kept on and on about the grumpy bears he was going to meet there. Nessa was convinced he was going to meet them to make friends and she asked him over and over to bring one home for her to meet too!

If asked Edward would say that the best time he had with Nessa during those weeks were the times he had her all to himself as he played. He sat with her in his lap for hours. She never tired of it, never once asked to do something else. In fact, when given a choice what she'd like to do during the day she almost always asked for Edward to play with her. Not for her, but with her. They had a routine going where Edward began a song or melody and Nessa tried to name it or finish it for him. Of course her hands were far too small to reach the keys so she showed him, in her thoughts, a previous time he'd completed the tune.

Their silent conversations became longer and more complex the more information she took in. I watched, many a time, as they sat in total conversational silence. Edward would play the first few notes of the tune he'd chosen and she would reach for his cheek only a few seconds later. She'd show him the memory and he'd smile down at her and choose another to begin. They said nothing out loud though they were obviously conversing quite easily in silence in their heads.

After a few weeks of this they changed it up a little. Nessa had to recall the name and composer of a piece before Edward would play it. He tried his best to trick her but she always managed to stop him after only a few bars if he played the wrong thing.

Calls of 'silly daddy' or 'naughty daddy' came thick and fast during this game as Edward did his best to trip her memory up.

If asked I'd say the times I had her with me at the library were my favourite.

There was a study room there. It was a windowless box really. But it was quiet and private and nobody would recognise us if we sat in there instead of in the main room of the library.

I hired it for four hours on a Wednesday afternoon and Nessa and I sat in it and devoured as many classics, texts and periodicals as we could in the allotted time.

I took Nessa's blanket and bundled her into her pusher so she'd look her age as we crossed the library floor. To anyone who cared to notice I looked like any other young mother who was looking for a quiet place to read with my little one in tow. To the learned eyes of another vampire we'd look like what we were. A vampiress teaching her half vampire child about the world via books.

Nessa sat in my lap, clutching her blanket, and we read for the full four hours. Sometimes she would read to me, sometimes I read to her. But always our time was well spent. We scoured the shelves for lesser known volumes and when we found one we devoured it with relish. Nessa absorbed all I could show her, all she saw for herself and all that was on offer in the little library in Forks. Edward agreed we'd have to move on to the larger Port Angeles library before Spring was done.

**EPOV**

Carlisle received the call from Alistair at the beginning of May. He'd been contacted by Stefan in early April but hadn't thought to contact us about it until after he was speaking with Marcus, who informed him of his own contact with the Romanians.

Once it had been decided that the questions asked of them sounded 'off' to Alistair – which wasn't difficult to imagine seeing as he believed everyone and everything was 'off' – he decided to inform Carlisle.

Alice, Jasper and Rose had contacted all the other covens in the interim, since we'd decided to follow it up ourselves. There was nothing to be learnt however and we slowly began to believe that the Romanians were merely curious.

None of us had heard from the Amazon women and as I had promised myself not to worry until every coven in attendance at the christening had been contacted, I allowed myself the self delusion that we were safe.

I'd just started to relax a little, started to believe that I really could just live peacefully in my little cottage in the woods with my wife and child, when I was abruptly and rather rudely shaken from my reverie.

Zafrina's message arrived in the form of a long hand letter written on yellowing writing paper. It had taken three weeks to reach us, putting the time of writing round about the same time that Alistair had been contacted by Stefan.

Zafrina wrote to tell us of her worries. Her coven had been contacted by Vladimir and Stefan in early April regarding any information she might be able to share regarding an experiment undertaken in my backyard one cold February day.

Whilst Zafrina was keen to express her joy at the birth of Renesmee, and her pleasure at meeting my mate, she had been reluctant to discuss the experiment and its outcomes. Vladimir had been angry and Zafrina was worried she had somehow dumped us in it.

This was the first contact from the Romanians that had asked specific questions about either Bella's talent or what Zafrina had been able to teach her. This worried me more than the knowledge that now every single coven had been contacted.

I sat opposite Carlisle in his office at the hospital and sighed, my head in my hands.

"This is bad Carlisle, very, very bad. I feel it." I mumbled.

"It may not be Edward. We don't know for sure why they were asking. Alice hasn't seen anything, they've made no move and they've not contacted us directly at all. Until they do it's a simple mission for information. I'm sure." He tried his best to placate me but I heard the fear in his voice and read it in his thoughts.

"I'm going to contact everyone, individually, over the next day or two and speak to them personally. Find out exactly what they were asked and in what order. We're missing something, I know it." I told him matter of factly.

"It can't hurt." He mumbled. "I think it's time to tell Bella, son."

"NO!" I bellowed before I could rein in the outburst. "No Carlisle. We can't. We mustn't. If Bella knows Seth will realize something is wrong, so will Nessa. If she works it out, or overhears something she'll inform Seth. They keep no secrets. I won't have it." I was determined to let this play out without upsetting my wife or child.

"As you wish Edward. They are your family and I respect your decision but if things progress as you are predicting I'll have no choice but to tell her, as head of this coven..." He trailed off and finished it in his head. '_As head of the coven I have a greater responsibility.'_

He was thinking about us as a whole, as one family, as he should.

All I could do was nod. He'd do what he felt he must, as would I. "Give me a chance to speak with everyone first. If there is nothing to learn from their answers there is no point bothering Bella with it. If I find anything further we can talk about telling her. But not until we know something for sure. I won't worry her for nothing."

"Agreed. Shall we say the end of the month then?" He wanted to negotiate and I couldn't deny him. He had all our best interests at heart and he knew well enough, as did I, what it could cost if we got this wrong.

"Done." I reached across the desk and shook my father's hand. "If I find nothing nobody will say a thing to Bella, do I have your word on that?"

"You do." He renewed the handshake and we were agreed.

He returned his attention to the pile of folders on his desk and I excused myself to begin making my calls.

Two days later I collected Jasper from school and we took a drive to the cliffs at La Push beach. The same cliffs I'd jumped off with my friends before I was married.

It seemed such a long time ago, although it was but a few short months.

I felt like a different person now. Back then I was just Edward Cullen. A fiancé and lover. Now I was a husband, a father and head of my own family.

Another fundamental difference was apparent in me too, though it was only me who knew it. I was afraid. I was about to share that with my brother.

I parked at the edge of the path and we ran to the head of the point and sat, cross legged, on the overhang of the cliff.

"I feel the fear in you Edward, you have to tell me now. I've been patient long enough." Jasper said as he made himself comfortable in the grass.

"I'm pleased to share it with you Jaz. I can't deal with it myself anymore." I mumbled. "We're in trouble brother." I told him.

"I guessed as much. What do you know that we didn't find out from asking the covens?" He asked quietly. He was very calm, very staid. His thoughts were only for what he could do to help me.

I hated to burst the bubble that had become his happy, easy going life. "I don't think they care about Bella's gift, or Renesmee's either really." I admitted. I ran a hand though my hair and tried my best to remain calm while I explained what I'd learned.

"Go on." He was nodding, pleading with me in his thoughts to just tell him so we could form a plan and be done with whatever was coming.

I had to have this conversation with Jasper before I had it with the rest of the family. Jasper had intimate knowledge of things of this nature. His experience would once again be invaluable. I had to know, from him first, what his thoughts were before I put it to the family and heard theirs.

I steeled myself to admit what the real issue for the Romanians was. I'd not said it out loud to anyone as yet. I didn't want to have to. It would mean it was real. "It's Seth." I had meant it to come out cleanly, to flow out of my mouth in such a way that it would belie the terror I felt for the boy, but it came out in a rush, rasped and wrapped in my pain.

His hurried answer said it all, "Fuck."

**BPOV**

Nessa and I were, for some reason, seen off to my parents for a visit. One that Edward didn't want to partake in, which in itself was odd.

He said he had work to do on his composition, which he was working hard on, at the big house during the day. He said he was nearly ready to record it, using the time I'd bought him as a gift for Christmas. I was excited for him, eager to have his music on disc, properly mixed and mastered so it wouldn't be lost, ever. But Edward himself seemed detached and withdrawn, not at all as excited about it as he had been when I had given him the vouchers on Christmas night.

But he was working hard on piece, so I guessed he was just nervous. He'd spent a lot of time at the big house, while Nessa and I stayed at the cottage, saying he needed it to be quiet while he finished it.

So I happily took Nessa to Charlie's for a visit and left him to his own devices in the cottage where he could practise on the upright for a few uninterrupted hours.

Seth met me in the driveway of my parent's house.

We said a quick hello and then he scooped Nessa up out of her car seat and took her inside with him. I reached behind the driver's seat of the Guardian to collect the packets of photos I'd printed the day before and cursed when I realized I'd left them at the big house in the darkroom.

I ran inside and after greeting my parents I told them I'd be right back.

I ran back to the house rather than driving, it was quicker for one, and for two it was fun to just run for ...well, for fun.

The house was ablaze when I got there. All the lights were on, even the dining room lights which were hardly ever used. I was going to just run to the darkroom by the garage and collect my packets without going inside but then I heard the raised voices coming from inside.

My hackles went up immediately. Not because someone was arguing in the house, hell everyone fought at some point. Not a week went by when someone wasn't ticked off with someone else in the house. No, it wasn't that that bothered me about what I was hearing. It bothered me because it was Edward's voice I heard shouting. And he was supposed to be at the cottage, practising.

I crept up the side of the house knowing they'd smell me eventually but hoping I'd hear enough to work out what the problem was before they did.

_"Look, I will be the first to admit there were gaps in my protection of her when she was human, and probably some big ones after she was changed too. But cut me some slack. I did what I thought was right at the time, I had no experience keeping someone safe, let alone a frail human girl with a stunted sense of self worth and no self preservation at all." _Edward was in a rage, that much was clear. Had he spoken those words they could've been taken as a normal conversation between two vampires discussing how to protect a human. But the way Edward snarled the words, all but barked them out to whoever his conversational partner was, frightened me.

_"That might have gone a little bit smoother had you let us help Edward." _Rosalie hissed her reply back, making my skin prickle with fear.

_"I am willing to concede that Rose. And I did ask for help, when it came to protecting her and the baby, I did. But even that didn't go according to plan. It still ended in bloodshed; we still had to come up swinging. I got complacent, I thought I knew what Victoria was going to do, when in reality I shouldn't have assumed anything. Evil is evil and it won't stop until we stop it." _He stormed. I jumped slightly when I heard his fist come down on the tabletop.

Esme sucked in a breath and I heard her admonish him for abusing the furniture.

_"I've got no idea what the fuck you're talking about bro, but if it means we fight for them, then we fight for them." _Emmett said simply.

_"Alice will see it coming. We wait until she sees when and then we fight."_ Jasper said just as simply as Emmett had.

_"We can't trust Alice' visions wholly this time. I'm not saying she's wrong, or she will be wrong, I'm saying she won't see it all because of the wolf's involvement. I'm not willing to wait this time. I don't want to rely on just one outcome, I don't want our only option to be what Alice can see." _It sounded like Edward was heading this meeting, as though he was the one with the information and the others were being bought up to speed.

I didn't want to hear anymore.

Someone, something, was coming for us. Again.

I ran back down the driveway and ran through the forest to my mother's house.

I pretended all was well and when my mother asked me where the photos were I lied and said there was a problem with the printer and they'd all come out smudged. I told her I'd print her another lot the following day and I'd bring them by the daycare centre to show her.

We had a pleasant evening and a nice visit with my parents. I drove Seth home at a reasonable time and then I drove the Guardian back to the big house. I took Nessa inside for a few minutes, although she was nearly asleep in my arms, and after everyone had had a cuddle and a quick kiss from her I ran home with her and tucked her into her little bed.

Edward was already in our bed when I got through with Nessa. He was huddled under the blankets, a thick leather bound novel in his hands. I slid into the bed and put my head on his shoulder. We said a passionate hello, Edward's kiss was full of fear and worry. I could feel it in the room but he said nothing. He gave nothing away. He told me nothing of the discussion held earlier in the night at the big house.

Instead he held me close while he pretended to read his book and when I slid my hand down his chest over his belly button and into the waistband of his pyjama pants he made no hesitation in responding to my insistent touch.

He made love to me that night like it was to be our last night on earth. He was desperate. He clung to me, almost sobbed my name as his orgasm overcame him. He lay in my arms for the remainder of the night and when the sun rose the next morning he calmly got up from our bed and went to collect his twittering daughter from her bed. He prepared her bath and went about his business as though nothing was happening other than our normal lives inside our little cottage in the forest.

I tried my best to be normal.

But I knew.

Someone or something was coming.

What for, or for which of us, was the question I wanted the answer to.

* * *

**A/N: It's not so much a hole now as it is a well. A very, very deep well. **

**If you have found something of interest in this chapter please review. If you'd like to tell me where I'm going wrong please review. **


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21 – When Enough is Enough.

21.

**EPOV**

"You know I can't see when it involves the wolves Edward." Alice shook her head sadly.

I put my arm over her shoulder and patted her spiky hair fondly. "I know that little one." I matched her sadness. "I just wondered if you could, maybe, try to see the consequences, if not the holes left by the wolves?" I was clutching at straws.

She shook her head. "I can't see anything Edward. It's so frustrating." She hung her head and cradled it in her hands. Her anguish was palpable, bringing Jasper from their suite to join us on the sofa.

"She hasn't had a moment's peace since we told her it was the wolves that were the targets." Jasper said worriedly. _'She's wearing herself out trying to see around them Edward.'_ He told me silently, pleading with me with his eyes.

I looked at Alice and saw that he was right. She was exhausted mentally from trying to see what I'd asked her to look for. Guilt flooded my system and I slumped up against her shoulder. "I'm so sorry Alice, I know how hard this is for you." I mumbled.

We sat on that sofa in silence for a long time. We were waiting for the pack – minus Seth – to arrive. Carlisle had overruled my wish to keep the information we now had to ourselves as long as we could. He had called the Rez, he had informed Sam there was trouble heading their way, it was Carlisle who had arranged for this meeting but it was me who had excluded Seth.

Nobody was happy about that. I was persona non grata to both Emmett and Alice as far as that decision went. I was also no longer popular regarding keeping Bella in the dark. As more and more information came to us, via various means, all of which we were about to have to impart to the pack, the others became more and more convinced that it was time Bella knew what was going on.

I, on the other hand, became more and more sure that it had to be kept from her.

No good could come from her being worried or frightened. It would upset Nessa and there would be no keeping it from Seth once Bella knew. I had been adamant and I still had not changed my mind on it. I just hadn't heard a good enough reason to involve her, as yet. If someone could provide one I'd reconsider, until then she stayed blissfully unaware.

It was Wednesday, the middle of May, and Bella had taken Nessa to Port Angeles to the library. The four hours they'd spend there, plus the hour's drive to and from, gave us the perfect opportunity to have this meeting without needing to sneak around. We could do it in our own home, in the dining room, without worrying about being caught. Seth was at school and the pack was free to participate without needing to send him off somewhere innocuous.

I left Alice and Jasper on the sofa when I began to hear the wolves thoughts coming across the highway. "They're here." I mumbled, knowing everyone in the house would hear me.

Carlisle and Esme came from upstairs and stood with me on the front porch to greet the ten wolves, in their human form, who came running up the driveway.

None of them had any idea why they'd been summoned and I silently thanked Rosie for keeping her promise to remain silent at the garage these past few days.

Sam shook my hand and enquired after both Bella and Nessa before Carlisle led him and the rest of the pack into the dining room.

The seventeen of us wouldn't fit round the table so we let the women sit and the men mostly stood at the back of the room. I stood with Carlisle at the head of the table.

I took a moment to listen to the thoughts around me before taking a deep breath and announcing the problem as calmly as I could.

"Our ruling coven has decided my daughters association with Seth is evil. They have been marked for extermination." I announced as dispassionately as possible.

The roaring and howling that echoed around that room could be heard miles away.

**BPOV**

Something had been planned for my absence but there was nothing I could do to find out what it was and why. So, as had become my normal routine, I pretended all was well and bundled Nessa into her car seat and headed off to Port Angeles as normal.

Edward kissed Nessa sweetly, promising to show her his progress on the composition when she returned. He kissed me softly at the corner of my mouth and held me tightly to his chest for half a second longer than was necessary. To someone who was unaware there was a problem it would've gone unnoticed. I noticed.

I turned the radio on in the Guardian to keep Nessa amused while I thought over my predicament. I'd kept a close eye on the family the past two weeks. Alice was quite obviously depressed. I didn't know if vampires could even get depressed, but that's how she seemed to me. The light was gone from her eyes. Oh, she tried very hard to hide it from both me and Nessa, but I could tell that she was struggling with whatever knowledge she had. Either that or she was struggling with not having any knowledge. Which, if I had interpreted the information I already had properly, it was likely that whatever was happening involved the wolves and that would make Alice virtually blind. I knew how frustrating that was for Alice and how draining that was for Jasper to live near.

The tension in the big house was like a thin film of fear that settled across every surface. It got so that I didn't want to go there during the day. Even when the house was virtually empty and it was just me, Nessa and Esme in it, I could feel the vibration of fear.

I remembered it from the days prior to that first confrontation in the clearing with the wolves, the days before Jacob's death had made the house feel this way. I'd felt it again when I was being watched by James, Laurent and Victoria. As though I was being watched, protected without my protectors wanting to be visible. The difference this time was that I wasn't supposed to know I was being watched, or protected. But I did.

So while everything seemed normal on the surface of my life things were far from okay.

I wasn't so young and naive to think that if I wasn't being informed it was for a good reason. I wasn't stupid enough to believe that if I just let them all deal with it it would all go away eventually and I'd never need to know. Deep down I knew this was serious, that if Edward couldn't bring himself to tell me – and that he'd managed to convince the others to keep it from me too – then it was serious and quite possibly very, very dangerous.

Over the past two weeks I'd caught them meeting twice more. I was careful not to be caught listening and had had to lie once to my mother and once to my father to even get myself into a position where I could hear them.

The first time I'd done exactly as I had the first time. I organised a visit with Renee for Nessa, telling Renee I'd drop her off and return home to finish my chores. I'd told Edward that I'd take Nessa to Renee's and stay there for the visit. That way each side thought I was with the other.

I had crept back to the house and stood in the tree line behind the garage, completely hidden visually and I hoped far enough away that my scent wouldn't reach the house too easily.

That meeting had been much the same as the last. Lots of vague information and lots of posturing from Edward. He was determined to keep whatever the problem was from me; Carlisle and Emmett were determined to inform me. They would argue for and against and then they voted. Edward won, narrowly.

They discussed Alice' continued inability to see a decision. They talked about Seth's involvement and how best to protect him and the pack from whatever was coming.

But still it was never actually voiced what, or whom, it was that was coming for us.

The second time I eavesdropped I'd taken Nessa to the marina so she could go out on the boat with Charlie. Luckily for me I was able to cry off at the last minute because as I was loading Nessa's things into the little cabin the sun came out. Charlie took one look at my skin as it sparkled and agreed that it was too dangerous for me to be seen with him out on the water that day.

It would've been easy for me to stay out of sight, the boat had a full covered cabin and once we were out on the open water there would be nobody around to see my skin anyway, but Charlie insisted he'd be fine with Nessa on his own. I hesitated and balked as much as I thought I should so Charlie wouldn't know how relieved I was to be able to run home to listen to the meeting.

I left the Guardian in the parking lot at the back of the bank and slipped into the trees at the back of the town limits. I ran home as fast as I could, coming at it via the river. I had had to be extra careful to mask my scent as it was particularly windy that day.

I stuck to the trees and crept as close to the house as I dared. Finally I settled on sitting in a branch at the top of the tree outside our suite. I was a hundred feet in the air eavesdropping on my own family.

I learned nothing new that day. Alice was still frustrated at not having seen anything substantial she could share with the group. Edward was still frightened and angry, though about what he never said. Emmett still tried to reason with Edward to tell me the truth and Carlisle told Edward, very sternly, that the end of the month was but a few days away and that Edward's 'agreed upon time frame' – his words not mine – was fast coming to a close.

Edward begged for more time, the family voted on it.

Edward lost. He had until the end of the month to either find a suitable solution they could all agree on or I had to be told.

The only thing they could agree on was that it was time to inform the wolves.

So as I drove towards Port Angeles, Nessa humming along with the tune on the radio, I began to wonder if I would ever be able to look Edward in the eye again.

He was the consummate liar, he'd told me that himself once.

My fear for what they were hiding was fast being overtaking by the rage I felt at my mates deception.

**EPOV**

Once the wolves had had a chance to vent their initial rage at my statement they settled down and allowed me to explain, a little.

"Who the fuck are your ruling class?" Embry asked unapologetically.

Carlisle explained. "There are only two of them left, they are Stefan and Vladimir. They are who we refer to as 'The Romanians'. They are the only descendants left of the first vampires. They are thousands of years old and were once vampire royalty. They've never forgotten this and although the clan system we have now has long since stripped them of the bulk of their power, they do all that they can to reclaim what they can of it." He told them solemnly.

There were so many questions swilling around in the wolves brains it was beginning to be painful being able to hear them all. "Please, calm down, I beg you." I rasped as I put my head into my hands on the tabletop.

A few sorrys were mumbled and slowly the minds of those around me slowed enough for me to be able to participate in the meeting. "It will be easier if you just answer their questions Carlisle." I told him.

"Me first." Sam rose from his seat and went to stand at the window wall, looking out over the pool house. He crossed his hands behind his back and in a deep voice began to ask his questions. "Have you bought this upon us by having Renesmee?"

Luckily I'd seen his question before he asked it and was able to temper my reaction to it somewhat before answering. I took a deep breath, "No. We haven't. Quite the opposite actually. She is not one of a kind nor is there any rule that says a vampire cannot mate with a human. She is no threat to them or anyone else." I told him firmly. I wanted to blurt out that it was a fucking wolf, one who'd imprinted on my perfect daughter, that had bought this upon us, but I couldn't. I wouldn't do that to them, they'd work that out for themselves soon enough.

This wasn't about blame, anyway.

_'I'm sorry for asking, but as Alpha I have to know why this is coming about.' _He thought, and then turned to face the room again. I nodded minutely towards him so he'd know I'd heard. "If she is no threat to anyone why do they believe she must be removed?" He was careful to word it thus and I was grateful.

I looked to Carlisle who nodded imperceptively at me before I answered just as carefully. "It's complicated. Of course." I rolled my eyes. "The problem is not what she is; it's who she is bonded to. The problem is not Nessa, its Seth, Sam. The Romanians fear you, Sam."

Again the room erupted. The wolves all got to their feet and began pacing, their growls were both loud and tremendously angry. Carlisle had to shout to be heard, which was rare. I'd heard him raise his voice perhaps three times in a hundred years. All three times prior had been at me, admittedly.

"Enough!" He roared, bringing the wolves consciousness back to the meeting at hand. They retook their seats and the discussion continued.

"At some point during their long existences both Stefan and Vladimir have had run ins with werewolves. Siberian ones most likely. Eleazar tells us that they have spent centuries hunting them into extinction and have done it with fervour." Carlisle steepled his hands as he usually did when imparting information and continued his lecture. "Eleazar informed us that it is Stefan who is particularly bitter towards werewolves because his mate was taken from him by one during a war he himself initiated two thousand years ago. He refuses to see that his own actions bought about the loss, won't hear it that had he left the wolves to themselves they'd never have had cause to attack his mate."

Sam once again rose from his chair and as he formed his next question I cringed. Here it comes, I thought.

"Back up the train there Carlisle. Eleazar? The Eleazar that was here for the christening? He knows about these two, the Romanians? Tell me, Cullen's, exactly how did the existence of wolves in Forks become the knowledge of two old bastards in Romania?" Sam slammed his fist down onto the table and I silently begged Esme not to chide him as she did us.

She didn't. She sucked in a breath but remained passively silent.

I looked to Carlisle who, rightly so, lowered his head as I caught his eyes. He was feeling infinitely guilty for waving away my concerns regarding Eleazar's motives. I wanted no part of holding a grudge against my own father, but for now I was mightily pissed at him. I played my part, however, and explained to Sam what he needed to know. "Yes Sam. Eleazar was once part of the Romanian coven. He was a spotter. It was his job to find talented or powerful vampires to serve in the protective guard that surrounded the ruling clan. Eleazar has recently made a visit to his old home. Not a social visit, as you've already deduced."

Jared, Paul, Quil, Embry Leah and her mate Jack all leapt to their feet and screamed "We'll fucking kill him!"

"I couldn't agree more." I mumbled to myself.

**BPOV**

The scent of wolf was the first thing that struck me when Nessa and I arrived home from our trip to Port Angeles.

I could pick out Sam, Jared, Paul and Leah's scent easily. There were others though, so I guessed that the entire pack had met with the family today.

Nessa was asleep in her car seat so I parked the Guardian to the side of the garage in the shade and let her sleep. If I took her out of the car she'd wake up and wouldn't return to her nap, I didn't want a cranky baby that day.

I went inside and found Esme arranging flowers in the dining room. It reeked of wolf.

"Hello dear. How was your reading today?" She asked brightly.

"Hi mom. It was nice, really nice. She is loving the natural history section there." I told her honestly. It was easy to see she had no intention of saying anything about the meeting, she simply continued arranging her flowers with a smile on her face as she always did. I'd get no joy out of Esme. "Where is everyone?" I asked innocently.

"Oh, um, I think Edward has run home for more blank music pages dear. Yes, that's what he said he was doing, he shouldn't be long." I'd caught her without an alibi for the others and she was working hard to think on her feet. "I think Emmett has a late class today and Carlisle won't be home for hours, as usual." She sighed for dramatic effect.

"I guess Alice and Jasper aren't home from school and Rosie is working, right?" I asked, feigning interest. I already knew they hadn't gone to work or school, their scents were still strong in the room. No meeting would've been held without everyone present and accounted for, except for me of course.

"Yes dear. That's right." Esme answered without meeting my eyes.

"Okay then." I mumbled and began making my way back out to the car. I didn't care if Nessa was cranky all afternoon, I didn't want to be in the big house for another minute. "I'll take Nessa home to finish her nap. I'll see you tonight." I called as I went out into the driveway.

I didn't hear her answer and figured she knew I didn't need one. I unclipped Nessa from her seat and held her to me as I walked home to the cottage. Her little eyes fluttered shut time and time again as I walked. I hoped she'd go back to sleep, if only for a little while, so I could talk to Edward.

He really was playing his piano this time and I wondered if Esme had phoned ahead and tipped him off. Sure enough, when I came into the living room his cell phone was sitting on top of the piano. It wasn't proof but to my already enraged heart it was enough for me.

"Did she stay asleep?" He asked as I sat on the sofa opposite the piano.

"I think so, yes." I mumbled and reached for the novel on the coffee table.

"How was your trip today?" He asked, still playing.

"It was great. She loves the natural history section." I repeated the same boring monologue I'd just had with Esme.

"Great." He said without enthusiasm.

That was another thing I'd noticed about him. He'd lost all enthusiasm for anything that involved me. His interest in Nessa hadn't changed, but towards me he was becoming increasingly distant and disinterested.

We'd not made love for three days and when I suggested we leave Nessa at the big house and 'hunt' together he'd cried off saying he'd hunted only the day before with Emmett and wasn't thirsty.

The same thick tension in the big house had crept into my life in the cottage and I hated it. I hated the lies. I hated the pretending and I hated being so emotionally separate from my husband.

I excused myself to the study and busied myself editing photos on the laptop. Edward announced the imminent arrival of Seth but I just couldn't be bothered playing hostess so I stayed in the study.

When Nessa woke from her nap Seth went to her and it was as if nothing was wrong again. Edward came alive when Seth was around, doubly so when Nessa was awake. It seemed it was only me that dulled his sense of fun now.

It hurt that Seth wouldn't be honest with me about what was going on, but I understood it. His ally was Edward. I'd tried to keep him and Nessa apart from the start so it shouldn't have been too much of a surprise that he had gone along with Edward's wish to deprive me of information.

When the last week of May arrived I expected Edward to come to me and tell me what was going on. That was the deal he'd struck with Carlisle. He had until the end of the month or someone would tell me. It didn't feel as though any resolution had been found, everyone was just as on edge as they had been all month, and yet nobody told me a thing.

The first of June was a Thursday and I started the day knowing I'd had enough.

Edward was already out of bed and in the study before Nessa woke. He'd been in the bed with me during the night but hadn't made any attempt to be intimate with me at all. Apart from the odd kiss as I left to take Nessa somewhere, or he left to take her somewhere, we didn't touch at all during the two weeks prior.

Edward explained it away as nerves over the looming recording date for his compositions but I knew it was really fear. Not fear for what was coming, but fear that he would think something related to that and I would be able to read it from him when our bodies were connected. And so he withdrew all forms of affection from me. I was alone.

Alice had stopped coming to the cottage of a morning. When I asked her about it she said she was meeting a new friend before school of a morning, helping the girl – Christine was the name she gave me – with study before classes.

Jasper looked ill when he visited. I knew it was because he was worrying for Alice and also that the tension in and around the house had a profound effect on his wellbeing, but I let him lie to me when he said he'd just been struggling with his thirst.

Rose avoided me completely. She was either at the garage or in the garage at the big house if I was around. I didn't think we'd spoken two words to each other in two weeks.

Emmett was around and was doing his best to remain as normal as possible. He was better at it than Carlisle was, at least.

Carlisle looked at me as though I had cancer and only he knew I was about to die.

So, on the first of June I decided to force the issue. I couldn't continue to live the way we were and I was unwilling to let Edward lie to me if I asked what was wrong. So I got up out of bed and bathed, dressed and fed Nessa as I always did. I took her to him and watched him brush out her curls, as he always did.

I packed her little bag with a change of clothes, one of the stainless steel bottles and a few spare packs of blood in the little cooler bag I'd bought for it. I put Frank the giraffe into the bag and folded her blanket on top of it. I used my nails to snap the thread that held her dream catcher onto the mobile above her crib and I added that to her bag.

I put a change of clothes for myself into a backpack and added my hairbrush and hers to the top of it. I took my Cullen crest bangle off and placed it where my jewellery box usually lived. I pulled the three photographs out of their silver frames and added them to the jewellery box in between my jeans and spare t-shirt in the bag. Then I lifted Edward's billfold out of the top drawer of the dresser. I extracted a nice thick wad of cash from it and put the money in the backpack with my wallet. I tucked my novel and my cell phone into the side pocket and then I put both bags at the front door.

I collected Nessa from Edward and told him I was taking her to visit Charlie on his day off. Edward kissed me at the corner of my mouth and then he kissed Nessa on the top of her head.

"Be good for your momma." Edward told her.

"I will daddy." Nessa promised.

"Goodbye Edward." I told him pointedly.

He didn't lift his head from the piano as he replied. "Bye Bella."

He didn't notice my bag with hers as I scooped it up and slung it over my shoulder.

I didn't take her into the big house to say goodbye. Instead I ran around the side of the house and put her into her car seat in the Guardian. It wasn't my car, it was in Edward's name, but I couldn't put Nessa's car seat in the Elise. So I had to steal the Guardian.

When Nessa was tucked in I got into the driver's seat and took a deep breath.

It was the first of June. I'd been married for five months and one day, precisely. I took a moment to look at my wedding rings. I ran over the vows we'd made that day. I remembered the promises Edward and I had made and how it had felt to hear him declare his undying love to me in front of the preacher and all our family and friends. He'd sworn to me he'd never run again, he'd never keep things from me again.

He'd lied.

I started the Guardian and with an angry growl I turned it out the driveway and onto the highway.

I was eighteen and I was leaving my husband.

**EPOV**

I was losing my mind.

I'd lost the vote last night and I was going to be forced to tell her, tonight, what was going on. It was the first of June, my time was up.

Carlisle insisted we wait until everyone could help. He wanted it to be done with the whole family in attendance, in the dining room, preferably with Seth and the pack there too.

I had begged them to let me do it in private. I didn't want to do it at all but even I could see now that there was no point putting it off any longer. Bella wasn't stupid, she knew that I was withdrawing from her for a reason a lot more important than nerves about a stupid recording.

I wanted her desperately. Wanted to lose myself in her glorious scent, her beautiful body. I wanted to confide in her and tell her all my fears, beg her to help me find a solution. I wanted her to have a hand in defending our daughter and her mate. But I could do none of it. I was bound to silence because I didn't want her upset. I didn't want her to have to go to bed at night with the same worry I had weighing on me. I didn't want her every moment to be consumed with the fear that our daughter and her mate were marked for death. The husband in me knew I was doing the right thing keeping this from her, the man in me needed her to know so she could help me deal with it myself.

She went about her business as though nothing was wrong and I was so grateful that she had Nessa as a distraction. With nothing to occupy her time it would be near impossible to keep it from her.

When she announced she was taking Nessa to visit with Charlie for the day I nearly sighed in relief. That would give me the chance to have a meeting before Seth arrived for his afternoon visit and before we all met to tell them the truth.

As soon as the Guardian left the driveway Esme called me to let me know. I called Sam who agreed to be at the house, with the entire pack minus Seth as usual, within the hour. He alerted Rose who closed the garage and made her way home. Emmett was sent a text and his reply came soon after saying he would be there by the time the wolves were.

Alice and Jasper had taken Seth to school that morning and had doubled back, so they were already at the house. As was Carlisle who had swapped his shift.

Esme was slicing thick pieces of cake onto a tray for the wolves by the time I got to the big house.

"What did you find out?" Jasper asked me as I went into the dining room.

"Shit! Sorry Esme." I mumbled. "I left in a hurry, it's in my journal. I'll be back. Don't start without me." And with that I flew out the backdoor and back to the cottage to collect my journal.

My journal was where I'd left it the night before, on the dresser under my wallet. I snatched it up in a hurry, knocking the silver photo frame to the ground. I reached out to catch it and was grateful I'd managed to clutch it in time. It was Bella's favourite and had her three favourite pictures in it. Us dancing the night of our wedding. Seth and Nessa dancing at her christening and the four of us sitting on the stone wall in the courtyard. I stood the frame right way up and bent to see the pictures one last time before I went back to the big house.

The frame was empty.

I looked to the floor to see if the pictures had slid out of the top opening as it had fallen, but they weren't there.

Where her jewellery box normally sat was her Cullen crest bangle. The box was gone and so were the photos. My heart clenched with the agony of what I was looking at.

I ran through the cottage cataloguing what else was missing. If we'd been robbed it made sense the jewel box would be missing. There were no other scents other than those that should be here so I knew what this was and it wasn't a robbery.

Four pouches of blood were gone from the little refrigerator.

Bella's novel, her hairbrush cell phone wallet and keys were gone. But she'd need those if she was just visiting Charlie like she said.

But the jewel box? Why would she take that? Why take the photos? Why leave her bangle?

I raced into Nessa's room. Frank was gone, so was her blanket.

I had almost convinced myself that there was a perfectly logical explanation for the missing items when I saw the snapped thread on Nessa's dream catcher.

I sunk to my knees on the floor of Nessa's room and screamed.

"NO!"

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter, it was so very hard for me to write. Please review if you enjoyed it, and even if you didn't.**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22 – The Getaway

22.

**BPOV**

I knew I had to be quick. If I was to get away from Forks without being stopped by the Cullen's I knew I had to be both quick and smart about it.

From when I left the house to when I hit the interstate heading towards Port Angeles couldn't have been more than twenty minutes.

I went into the bank and withdrew as much cash from my own account as Mr Davis would allow without me having arranged it the day before. I signed in and emptied the contents of my safety deposit box and replaced it with my jewellery box.

I went to my parent's house and dropped a small note into their letterbox. I told them that we – I deliberately said we hoping they'd think nothing of it if it appeared as though Edward was going too – were taking Nessa to the beach for a few days holiday. I wrote that we'd be recognised anywhere near Forks so we'd take her elsewhere, just this once, while we had the chance. I signed it with love and hoped that my parents knew that I really did love them.

I sang along with Nessa as we drove toward Port Angeles.

We were within eight miles of the ferry terminal when my cell phone began ringing. From there to the terminal I managed to receive no less than 27 text messages and the phone itself rang nonstop.

I pulled into the parking lot on East Railroad Avenue and told Nessa to look out the windows at the pretty water while I exited the car and sorted out the mess on my phone.

I ignored the missed calls log. They were all from Edward or Carlisle anyway.

I flicked through the text messages and deleted each one after reading it.

They were all the same. Please come home. Don't take Nessa. We'll talk about it. I love you. Give me a chance to explain. We love you. Blah. Blah. Blah.

I felt like replying 'you had your chance to talk and missed it, asshole' but I didn't. I just deleted the messages, turned the phone off and slipped it into my pocket.

I put my backpack on my back and grabbed Nessa out of the backseat.

I walked back towards the main shopping strip of the little city and went into the first department store I saw. I put Nessa into the top of a shopping cart and filled the cart with toys, books, games, clothes and toiletries. I selected a suitcase on wheels and then I paid for it all using cash. I wheeled the shopping cart out the front doors and into a little back alley. I put all the things I'd bought into the suitcase, including my backpack.

I walked us back to the Guardian and put the suitcase in the trunk.

We walked back down the shopping strip until we came to a yard filled with used cars.

I chose the first thing I came to, a little cream coloured Ford Taurus. I was assured that it ran perfectly and again I paid cash to a more than happy with his lot in life salesman.

I drove, with Nessa strapped into a regular seat belt – which my father would've arrested me for, but desperate times called for desperate measures – back to where the Guardian was parked.

I took Nessa's car seat out of the Guardian and transferred it to the Ford. I put her in it and then I transferred the suitcase to the trunk of the Ford.

I went around to the driver's door of the Guardian and put the keys back in the ignition. I pushed the central locking so the doors were locked and then I slammed the driver's door shut. They'd find the car eventually, the keys in it and no way to find where I'd gone after that.

Hopefully they'd think I'd caught the ferry to Victoria. I didn't really care where they thought I'd gone. I knew I'd have to face him, and them, eventually. Edward wouldn't hesitate to use Alistair to find me so it wouldn't be too long before we were found anyway. A few false leads might give me a few extra days thinking room before I had to decide what to do more permanently.

Within two hours of liberating my daughter we were on the Olympic Highway heading into the centre of the Olympic National Park.

Half an hour later I was parked out the front of the Elwha Ranch Bed and Breakfast.

I checked myself in as Miss Angela Stanley and Nessa in as Elizabeth Stanley.

The woman behind the desk was so eager for me to just take the keys and leave her alone she couldn't have cared less if I checked us in as Mr and Mrs Potato Head!

Our cabin was gorgeous. It had a deck that looked out over the national park and even had a little bedroom for Nessa. I put her on the floor with some of the games and books I'd bought and told her I would be in the bathroom if she needed me. She promised me she would be okay and I went in and turned the water on for a shower.

I stripped out of my clothes and left them in a pile on the bathroom floor. I stepped under the steaming hot water, let it wash over me and began to wash myself with the tiny cake of soap provided. When I was sure that I was clean I slid myself down the glass door until I was sitting on the cold tiled floor. I sobbed my heart out until the water ran cold.

**EPOV**

They'd come running when I'd screamed. I must have done it so loudly that they'd heard it at the big house. That was four miles, a little more.

I couldn't say it when they got there. I couldn't find the words to tell them that she'd gone. That she'd taken my daughter and left me. I was alone.

In a house surrounded by the only family I knew I was totally alone.

Ness was gone.

Bella was gone.

I'd driven her away.

**BPOV**

When Nessa went for her afternoon nap I turned my phone back on.

I had another 24 missed calls, some from Edward's cell, some from Alice, some from Carlisle and one from Sam Uley.

That surprised me. I scrolled down and listened to only that one.

_"Bella, you have the support of the pack and always will. Let us know if you need anything, anything at all. Keep yourself and our girl safe. Sam." _

It was better than 'please come home all will be forgiven I was wrong we were wrong I love you don't leave me where the fuck are you'.

I deleted all the rest and went to my message centre.

I never had any intention of totally disappearing and I didn't want Edward to worry about Nessa, so I sent him a brief text.

~We have arrived where we were heading. Nessa is safe and well. Bella. ~

My cell phone was flooded with replies but I deleted each one as it arrived.

When the constant chirping of the phone began to annoy me I turned it off once again.

I pulled my backpack onto the bed and pulled the photos and my stash of cash from within it. I slid the photos between the pages of my novel and rolled the cash into a ball and stuffed it inside a pair of the new socks I'd just bought.

I pulled everything out of the little refrigerator and stood the four pouches of blood at the back of the shelf. Then I put all the little bottles back in front of it, just in case housekeeping discovered it when they were restocking the mini bar.

I rinsed the stainless steel bottle out and stood it on its end in the dish rack ready for Nessa's next feed. I had two days worth of blood on hand so if we weren't discovered by then I was going to have to teach her to hunt myself. The thought wasn't as frightening as I had first imagined it would be. Now that we were on our own things seemed a lot simpler.

I grabbed my novel and lay back on the bed to read until Nessa woke from her nap.

**EPOV**

"What do you see?" I growled at Alice who was cowering in the corner of the sofa of the big house.

"I don't see anything!" She bellowed at me, baring her teeth. "There are fucking wolves everywhere I'm looking Edward!" She spat at me.

"Well there aren't any fucking wolves where my wife and daughter are, why can't you fucking see them then?" I hissed, slipping deeper into my crouch.

Jasper was growling steadily beside Alice and Emmett began to think about restraining me. I spun on my heel and hissed at him to back off.

"I can't see Nessa, you know that. She's too different from us. I can see Bella but not when she's with Nessa. And they are travelling alone, so there are no blanks where they would be." She was making no fucking sense now.

"What the fuck does that mean?" I demanded hoarsely.

Carlisle came in then. He strode to where Alice sat on the sofa and took her hand in his. He stroked it gently and then he went to stand behind her, keeping her hand in his and putting the two of them on the top of her shoulder as he spoke. "It means if Bella and Nessa were travelling with someone else Alice would be able to see that person, but only a blank space where Nessa should be. She'd be able to see the reactions _to _Nessa, not Nessa herself." He said calmly.

"Fine." I spat and straightened out of my crouch.

Esme came into the room and stood behind me. She put her hand into my hair but I shook her off. I didn't want sympathy. I was done with sympathy. I wanted an answer. If she was unable to give me one she was as useless to me as the rest of them.

"The pack will call if they find anything, Edward." Carlisle tried again to placate me.

I dialled her cell phone and got voice mail again. "Bella. God Bella. Don't do this. Please, come home. I'm begging, please, come home." I snapped it shut and threw it onto the coffee table in front of me.

It beeped signalling a message and a collective breath was held while I read it. When I saw that it was from Bella I almost, almost gave in to the desire to be relieved. When I read it I swapped relieved for fucking furious.

My fingers were a blur as I typed my reply.

~Where the fuck are you? Are **you** safe and well too? Are you coming home? I love you, don't do this, please. Edward xx ~

As I was preparing to throw it against the wall Alice huffed and reached over, taking it deftly from my hand. "Don't break it. If you kill it she can't contact you Edward." She whispered. She read Bella's text and then she put my phone back into my hands.

She began typing her own text and hit send.

I rolled the phone around the palm of my hand, running my fingers over the tiny teeth marks where Nessa had been chewing it. The perfect crescent shape in the top casing crushed me. "Oh god, what have I done?" I groaned, putting my head into my hands.

Esme began rubbing my back and shoulders and cooed softly to me that they'd come home, everything would be alright, I just had to be patient.

When the house phone rang Carlisle jumped on it. "Yes." He barked into it. "I see. And from there? I see. Thanks Charlie." He put the handset down and turned to me. "The Guardian is parked at the ferry terminal in Port Angeles. The keys in the ignition and the doors locked. Nessa's seat is gone and the car's empty."

I let out the breath I'd been holding. "The ferry to where?" I asked.

"It was at East Railroad Avenue, so the ferry to Victoria." He said quietly.

"Oh god, she's taken Nessa to Canada!" Esme wailed.

I thought so too until I opened my phone and saw the time stamp on her text. "No, she's not gone to Canada. Its 2 pm now, she left this morning at 10." I was mumbling but I knew I was right. "She stopped at Charlie's and at the bank, that's half an hour. Then half an hour's drive to Port Angeles. Even if she got there in time to walk straight onto the ferry it's still at least four hours to Victoria. There's no way she's hired a car and driven to where they are staying and had time to check in and get settled enough to send me that text. She's still here. Somewhere." I announced. I shot out of my seat and ran up the three flights of stairs to our suite and turned on my laptop. Within minutes I had checked our bank accounts. Hers was missing a chunk of cash but not enough to live off indefinitely in Canada. I phoned Denali and left a message just in case she showed up there.

She had enough to buy a cheap car and enough to stay a few weeks in a hotel. Maybe.

She wouldn't need food or much of anything else but she would need access to a forest so she could hunt for both herself and for Nessa. She wouldn't want to be too near humans, she still didn't trust herself to hunt when they were too close.

I flipped open my phone once again and dialled my lawyer. "It's Edward Cullen. I want to know right now if any of the passports you've made for me have been presented in the last twenty four hours and I need to know now. Call me when you know." I snapped the phone shut and went back to the desk.

I snatched the map of the area out of its cubbyhole and flew back down the stairs.

"Get in here." I barked to the family who all ran in and took their seats. I spread the map out on the table and grabbed a red pen from the console table. "She's taken cash from her account but not much. A weeks worth if she's bought another car. They don't need food but they need blood. Bella won't hunt too near humans so that rules out the edges of the National Park." I blanked out the edges of the green patch on the map using the red pen. "My lawyer is checking whether or not she's presented a passport at the ferry terminal, but my guess is she hasn't. She's there." I pointed to the heart of the National Park.

"You don't know that Edward. You're guessing." Rose said.

"Of course I'm fucking guessing, but it's the best guess we've got." I pulled my phone out and dialled Sam. "You got a tracker?" I asked.

**BPOV**

I bathed Nessa in the little tub in the ensuite bathroom and sang to her while I brushed out her curls. I did my best to do it like Edward did and she seemed to enjoy it. She hadn't asked where he was yet but I knew it was coming.

I heated the pouch of blood in the microwave and sat with Nessa on my lap while she drank it. She asked for another and I heated that too.

I rinsed the bottle when she was done and then I dressed her in a little blue dress and slid her ballet shoes onto her feet. "Well now that we're dressed how about we go and explore?" I asked her, offering her my hand.

She happily trotted along beside me as we explored in and around the cabin. The earth at the back of it dropped away steeply but it was surrounded by the lush forest at the base of the slope. I asked if she wanted to run with me and she said she did. I started off quite slowly, trying to set a pace that she'd handle easily but before too long she was striding out and running quite quickly.

With her hand in mine I quickened my pace again and soon we were flying through the paths and dodging fallen trees like old pros.

We came to a stop at the edge of the lake. Our lake. Nessa looked at me wide eyed when she realized where we were. She reached for me, as I knew she would, and put her hand to my cheek. She showed me her memory of her swimming with Edward all those months ago when she had been only a few days old. I closed my eyes and tried not to let the ache I felt in my heart show on my face.

"Yes sweety, this is that lake." I told her. "It looks different now, doesn't it?" I asked as she walked towards the shore.

"Darker." She agreed.

"It's because it was winter when we were here last." I told her. "We can come and swim tomorrow if you like?"

She nodded but said nothing and I wondered what she was thinking.

She walked back to where I stood and put her hand in mine. "Will daddy come swimming too?" She asked with sad eyes.

"No sweetheart. Daddy's not coming swimming. Just you and momma this time." I told her.

"Okay." She nodded. But I could tell she wanted Edward.

I knew how she felt. I wanted Edward too. But I knew the difference between want and need. I might want him but he wasn't good for me. Not while our whole marriage was filled with lies. So yes, I wanted Edward, but I knew I didn't need his deceptions.

**EPOV**

"A tracker Edward? Do you really think that's necessary?" Carlisle asked me.

"OF course it's fucking necessary. My wife and daughter are missing Carlisle." I spat my reply.

Esme came and stood beside my chair and put her hand on my shoulder. "Sweetheart, they aren't missing. They're gone, but they aren't missing. Edward, you can use a tracker to find her but she might not want to be found right now." She whispered.

I was about to round on her and shout that she knew nothing about what she was speaking when I realized she was right. Bella hadn't been taken from me; she left of her own volition. I'd driven her out.

"Oh god Esme." I sobbed.

She folded me into her arms and as I sobbed the others filed out of the room quietly.

"Shhh darling. It's alright. She's angry and hurt. That's all. She loves you, you know that. She won't stay away for long. Shhh." She rocked me back and forth and held me close while I sobbed and cried for my mate.

Sam and Jared arrived not long after and I had to tell them not to bother looking for her. I explained to Sam what had happened so far and he agreed with Esme. She didn't want to be found, not yet anyway. She'd texted to let me know they were alright and had arrived wherever it was they were heading, so for now I had to live with that and let her be.

"What will you tell Seth?" Carlisle asked when we remembered he would soon be coming home from school.

"We could tell him what she told Charlie. That she's taken Nessa to the beach while she's got the chance?" Jasper suggested but I was already shaking my head violently.

"No." I said as they all turned to look at me. "We're going to tell him the truth. I lost my wife and daughter because I thought lying to her was better than upsetting her. We're telling Seth the truth."

Nobody disagreed with me for the first time in weeks.

**BPOV**

"I want daddy." Nessa wailed into my shoulder.

"I know baby girl, I know you do." I stroked her hair and held her while she cried.

I tucked Frank under her arm and took her to the single bed in the other room. I laid her down and slid in beside her. She cried for another twenty minutes and then her soft snuffles began as she fell into sleep.

I patted her for a few more minutes to make sure she was fully asleep and then I went back into the little living room.

I was grateful to have been able to go two full days before she began to question where Edward was. But once she began she refused to stop asking after him.

Where was he? Why didn't he come too? When would he arrive? Would he bring his piano? Was he bringing the blue car (Veyron)? Was he bringing her Sethy? She'd kept her promise to be good for her momma, why didn't daddy visit her now?

On and on she went. Since I'd put her in her pyjamas she'd asked for him, and then for Seth, over and over.

I'd told her that he was busy, that when he wasn't busy anymore she could see him but she just cried harder. I let her chew on my cell phone but she threw it away angrily. It wasn't the same, she said.

I asked if she wanted to bite me like she did her daddy but she shook her head and said no, "Only daddy says ouch to Nessa." She pouted so sadly I had had to look away or I'd cave in and drive us home right then.

When she was finally asleep I turned my phone on and listened to the latest messages that they'd left for me.

There were standard pleadings for me to come home, some offerings to tell all if I just went home with Nessa and a hurried message left by Carlisle.

"_You'll be out of blood soon, please don't hesitate to call me if you need more for Nessa. I'll be discreet, I swear. We love you both so much, stay safe girls."_

Carlisle was right, when the morning came I was going to have to hunt for us both. I couldn't last another day with nothing for myself and there was none of Nessa's left either.

I was still determined not to go home so I was prepared to take her hunting come first light.

I sent Edward a brief text to let him know his daughter was still thriving and then I turned the phone off again.

I'd finished my novel so I switched the television on and tried to find something to keep my interest while I waited for the dawn.

**EPOV**

It had been more than two days since I'd had her near me and I was going out of my mind.

I had found the jersey she'd been wearing the day before she left and I put it on, stretching it terribly but making it fit none the less. I inhaled her scent that clung to it and sighed. It was bliss. Just the scent of her was my nirvana.

I tugged on my own shirt over the top and pulled on the dirty jeans I'd worn the day before. I didn't bother showering, there was nobody to care anyway.

Jasper and Emmett had run to Port Angeles and were bringing the Guardian home.

Alice, Rosie and Esme were out hunting. Carlisle was at the hospital and Seth was asleep in Nessa's nursery.

I had stayed the night at the big house, close to the phone. I didn't want to be in the cottage without them.

I grabbed my cell phone from the bedside table and headed downstairs to greet another silent, solitary fucking day without them.

I went outside and sat on the deck in the sunshine and turned my phone on. I'd taken to turning it off for a few hours at a time. Searching the blank screen for nonexistent messages was playing havoc with my wellbeing. When it beeped its announcement of a message I leapt out of the deck chair in fright.

~She's fine Edward. Missing you but fine. Tell Carlisle I'll hunt with her in the morning, I wouldn't let her starve. Bella. ~

There were so many hidden words, so many implications in that short message that the fury I felt clawed its way out of me in a white hot burst of rage. I roared into the surrounding forest and bought my fist down onto the railing in anger. It smashed, sending shards of wood across the lawn. I was tempted to crush the phone between my fingers too, just to prove that I could, when Alice' words from that first night came back to me. If I had no phone she couldn't reach out to me.

I was about to reply to the text when the house phone rang.

I flew inside and snatched it up, "What?" I barked into it, not caring who it was that was calling.

"Edward? Is that you?" My anger began to make itself known again when I recognised the caller's voice.

I drew in a long breath and did my best to curb my rage until after I heard what he wanted. "What do you want?" I snarled.

"Edward please, tell me what has happened. We just got your message, we've been away to the north. Tell us what we can do?" Eleazar begged of me.

I considered the many answers I could give him and settled on the words I should've said to him while he'd been here. "You, friend, have accepted my hospitality and have slept in my bed. My wife was gracious enough to entertain you during your stay. My daughter shared her memories with you and then you have stabbed me in the back. Consider this a warning Eleazar. You and yours are not safe from me." And with that I slammed the phone back into its cradle, shattering it and spraying the living room with sharp shards of cream coloured plastic.

I took the keys for the Veyron off the keyboard in the kitchen and stalked to the garage to start it. I passed Bella's darkroom and stuck my head in the door, inhaling the smell of the chemicals as I did.

She often came home smelling of them of a night time. She loved that room. All her memory cards were there, lined up along the desktop as though they were waiting for her to return and make something wonderful out of them.

Her camera was sitting in its dock on top of the printer. She'd not even taken that.

The gut wrenching thought that she had nothing to document Nessa's growth with hit me full force as I slammed the darkroom door shut.

I slid into the Veyron and it roared into life underneath me.

I couldn't sit at home and do nothing for another day. So today I would drive and I would search for them.

**BPOV**

I sat Nessa on the ground at the foot of a tree while I bought a small deer to the ground. I snapped its neck and waited until it stopped twitching.

I went to where she sat and knelt down in front of her. "Mommy has caught us a lovely juicy deer darling. Would you like to try to drink from it?" I asked her.

She looked over my shoulder to where the deer lay on the ground and then she turned her little face up to stare at me. "Okay mommy."

I held her hand and walked us slowly back to where the helpless deer lay. I sat down, cross legged on the wet grass and pulled Nessa into my lap. "Now, little one, give momma your hand." I held her fingers and pressed them to the pulsing jugular vein on the side of the deers throat. "Do you feel that darling?" I asked her and she answered by licking her lips. I giggled. "I guess you can feel it and smell it huh?" She nodded and I laughed again. "Okay, so all you have to do is bite baby girl. Do you think you can do that, or would you rather mommy does it and you just drink?"

She twisted a little in my lap and looked up at me over her shoulder, then back at the deer. "I can do it." She announced.

She bent over at her waist and hovered over where our fingers were marking the pulse point. I removed my fingers from hers and let her have her head. She surprised me by hissing softly before baring her teeth and slitting the jugular expertly. She clamped her lips over the wound and began to suckle.

She didn't need as much as I did but she drank deeply from the animal. When she was done she jumped out of my lap and I took what was left of the beast, from the same holes she'd made in its neck.

When it was dead and the luscious fluid had stopped flowing I pushed it aside and hopped back to my feet. "What do you think?" I asked her.

She smiled widely, showing me her little teeth. "I liked it. Can I have a go tomorrow?" She asked seriously.

I stared at her, shocked beyond belief. "You want to try to catch one for yourself?" I asked, incredulous.

"I can run fast. Daddy says I can run faster than Sethy!" she crowed proudly.

At the mention of daddy my insides began to churn. I clutched at my waist and held the hurt in as best I could. The dull ache had begun during the night and I'd not been able to shake it. At one point I feared I was actually becoming ill. Then I recognised it for what it really was, longing. Separation from ones mate was the most agonising of all pains.

Nessa came and stood beside me and reached for my hand. "Its okay momma, daddy will come when he's not busy anymore." And then she turned and ran off through the trees back the way we'd come.

It took me a few seconds to react to what she'd said. She believed that Edward was coming, she believed that I'd bought her out here alone because he was just a little bit too busy. She would be devastated when she found out he wasn't coming.

I had never intended to keep her from him, or him from her, I would never do that. But I wasn't ready to go home and face him yet either. Home. It was such a strange word. I wondered where my home really was now.

I looked between the trees where Nessa had run and I shook myself out of my pity party. I'd made the decision to leave, now I had to make the best of the situation.

I took off through the trees, calling for Nessa as I went. I couldn't hear her footsteps, Edward was right, she sure was fast.

I chased her for a few seconds more and then I stood still in the middle of a little clearing and smelled, flaring my nostrils. Her scent was still strong where I stood, she'd passed through there very recently, and I was maybe a minute or two behind her at the most. But boy could she run!

Edward had already told me, on the day she was born, what a highly developed sense of smell she had, so I knew she wouldn't ever get lost. She'd be able to find her way back to our little cabin without even thinking too hard about it. She'd just smell the way to go. But I was eager to lay eyes on her.

By the time I caught up we were only a few hundred meters from the back of the cabin. Nessa was giggling as she ran, her curls flying out behind her in a long curtain of copper. So like Edwards I thought idly.

The crushing pain of missing him hit me full force in the gut and I stumbled while running. As I hit the forest floor on my chest I remembered Emmett telling me that Edward had faltered, fallen as I had just done, one day during my change. That the pain he suffered while I changed had been unbearable for him.

I lay there, watching my daughter run up the hill towards our temporary home and I wondered if the ache in my chest would ever truly abate while I was apart from Edward.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you have enjoyed this chapter please review. If you haven't please review. **


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23 – You Aren't Safe

23.

**EPOV**

I turned the Veyron's ignition off and sat in the car watching the ferry pull away from the terminal in Port Angeles.

I couldn't believe that Bella would take my daughter over the sea and away from me. I knew, deep down in my heart, I knew that they were still near.

I'd not heard from Bella at all yet today, the message I had this morning on my cell phone had been sent during the night. I knew Bella would keep Nessa safe, I never doubted that for one moment. What I was worried about was who would keep Bella safe?

If she felt half as lost as I did right now she was in trouble mentally.

I had the whole family and a dozen wolves to watch out for me, who was watching out for my beautiful wife now?

I put my head in my hands and rested on the steering wheel.

My girls were gone. I was alone. Totally alone.

I didn't have a plan, I had no idea where they were or what to do to fix the problems we had. I just knew that for the first time in thirteen years I was alone and had no tangible connection to Isabella.

And then my cell phone rang.

"What?" I barked even though the caller ID told me it was Alice.

"She's near the Lake but she's up higher than it. There's a cabin with a deck on the back. It overlooks a forest. She was lying on the ground clutching her belly Edward. You have to find them!" She bellowed.

"How did you see her Alice? Where is Nessa if you can see Bella?" I begged of her as I started the Veyron.

"I don't know. I'm always watching but I've not seen her before now. Nessa must have been far enough away from her for me to be able to see Bella. I don't know what it means Edward. She disappeared again so fast." Alice sobbed.

"I'll find her Alice. I promise." I snapped the phone shut and headed for the tourist information centre at the edge of the National Park.

**BPOV**

Nessa slept for two hours. She had worn herself out by crying for Edward.

When she was finally asleep I crept down to the communal laundry and put our meagre collection of clothing into the washer. I checked in on her when I came back and found her clutching Frank in her little fist and snuffling contentedly. She was such a good baby. Never demanding, she never whined or cried for no reason. She ate well and she slept well. I was so very lucky.

It broke my heart that she now cried for her father. They were so very close and if she was this upset about missing him I could only imagine how bad Edward himself was.

I knew Edward would be frantic until he saw her again and conceded that it was cruel to keep them apart much longer. I tried not to think of what I was putting Seth through. For now it was almost too much for me to bear to think about Edward, I couldn't think about Seth too.

It had been three days now and I was feeling more and more ill with longing myself. I had not thought to bring something of Edward's that held his scent. I had always felt calmer with his scent near, even while we'd been separated before the wedding, simply sleeping in our bed surrounded by his scent had made me feel better.

Now I had nothing.

I wanted so badly to hear his voice. I'd deleted all his voice messages and I didn't really want to listen to him pleading, so I decided to actually call him.

I wouldn't tell him where I was but I would tell him that I could bring Nessa to him to visit. If I was clear and firm and sure with the way I worded it he would see that I meant what I said. That I was prepared for him to visit with Nessa but that was all. I wasn't returning home and I wasn't interested in what he had to say.

I just didn't think I'd be able to handle another day of Nessa asking after her father.

So I had to call him.

I went out onto the little rear deck and took a long, deep cleansing breath. Then I dialled his cell phone.

"Bella?" He asked hoarsely after answering it on the first ring.

"Hey." I whispered.

"Oh thank god. Are you alright? Is Nessa alright? Where are you? When are you coming home? I'll come and collect you. Tell me when and where." He didn't pause for breath, it all came tumbling out at speed.

I sighed. This was where I had to be firm. No matter how much I wanted him to charge in and rescue me I couldn't let him. "Edward. Slow down." I told him.

"Sorry. Sorry. Just tell me you're okay, please Bella, its killing me." He cried. I heard the screech of tyres and him curse softly and then the phone went quiet.

"Edward? Edward? What happened, are you okay?" I shouted into the phone.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. Idiot just cut me off." He cursed again.

"Okay." I said quietly.

My skin was prickling all over from need. The need to smell him, touch him taste him, feel his skin next to mine. The hair on the back of my neck was standing on end and my tattoo was tingling wildly.

"Bella please. Please." He sobbed.

"Edward I don't want to talk about anything. I just want to tell you that we're fine. If you want to see Nessa I'll bring her to you to visit. Tell me when and where." I said it firmly but was careful to be courteous. He was going to be angry enough as it was, there was no need to push him.

"You want to bring my own child to me for a visit?" He roared into the phone. It was so loud I had to take it away from my ear for a second. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean that. I didn't mean to yell. Sorry." He recanted his outburst and went on, "I need to see her Bella, I need to see you. Anytime, anywhere. Please." He begged.

"Tomorrow morning at the lake. Tell me what time you can be there and I'll be there." I told him.

It was tipping my hand, telling him to meet us there, he'd know for sure that we were close by. But I didn't really care. I hadn't ever intended to stay away forever. Eventually I would have to find somewhere to live close to Forks. I just needed for Nessa to spend some time with him for now, I could sort out the rest later.

"Eight. I'll be there at eight Bella." He said sounding frantic. "I love you Bella. So very much. I'm so sorry for all of it. You have to know that I am. I never meant for it to hurt you. Please come home, please let me show you...please Bella...I'm begging you..."

I hung up before he could say any more.

I'd meet him at the lake at eight and he could visit with Nessa.

For now that was enough.

**EPOV**

Alice had been right. They were near the lake. I still had no idea where but now that I knew I was going to be seeing them first thing the next morning I felt elated.

She'd hung up on me at the end but only because I was being pathetic. She had been fine up until I started grovelling, so I would assume that's why she hung up.

She had agreed to meet with me, it was a start.

I reopened my phone and rang the big house to explain the turn of events.

Alice begged me to come home, to shower, to shave, but I refused. I wanted to keep searching for them. They were close to me and I couldn't stomach leaving the area without knowing where they were.

With the tourist information map on the passenger seat I began to plan a route through the forest. There were only a few places up high that had cabins or cottages on them so it shouldn't be too hard to locate the right one. I started at the lake and worked outwards in a circle.

I left the Veyron at the lake and went on foot. Bella's scent was the first thing I smelled but Nessa's soon joined it in my senses. They'd been there, today but much earlier. I got onto my knees and drank Bella's scent in from the grass at the edge of the lake. They'd gone in, together. I stood and closed my eyes and remembered how happy we'd been here together as a family. I'd fucked all that up by keeping secrets.

I blew out my held breath and returned to following her scent. They had run to the lake from wherever it was they were staying. I knew this because I followed their twin scents back into the forest travelling east. I ran for maybe two miles before I found the partially hidden carcass of a deer.

It was stiff and cold so not a fresh kill but it did have both my girls' scents all over it. I kicked it with my boot and rolled it over onto its other side so I could inspect its neck. There was only one set of teeth marks, one pair of incisions. I bent lower and sniffed it from head to foot. It definitely had Nessa's scent on it too, more strongly around the wound. She'd hunted this. Or, Bella had bought it to the ground and Nessa had fed from it. I'd missed my daughter's first hunt.

"FUCK!" I roared in anger.

I tore off through the trees and followed their scent for a few more miles, all the while seething with rage at my own stupidity. I'd driven Bella to this. I'd withdrawn from every part of our relationship thinking it was what was best, when in reality I'd killed the trust between us. I'd known she was going to be angry when she found out I'd been keeping information from her, but never in my nightmares had I ever considered the agony of separation.

It hurt so much to know that they were feeding together, that they were functioning quite well without me. I wasn't stupid enough to think she would crumble and crack without me there to take care of her, but I had hoped that she was as miserable as I was. That it was difficult for her to function without me near her, as it was for me.

I had to know how they were living. I had to know where they were staying. I had to see for myself how she was coping.

So I followed their scents through the dense forest and soon I was stood at the back of a row of cabins that overlooked the valley, just as Alice had predicted.

I ranged my hearing out around me so that I could isolate Nessa's thoughts but soon realized it was so late that Nessa would be sleeping for the night already and there would be no thoughts for me to hear.

Bella's scent in particular was strong right where I was standing. This was where she'd laid. I didn't know why. Alice had thought she was clutching her stomach but I had no way to know why.

I stood in the tree line and watched the four cabins carefully. With a quick glance at my watch I saw that it was after midnight so if there were inhabitants in the other cottages they should be asleep. I'd watch and listen for the one cabin that didn't rest tonight.

**BPOV**

The nights were so long without him. Where the hours never seemed enough when I was with him they now stretched out in front of me like a punishment.

I knew it was of my own making but I couldn't quite believe this was what I deserved from my life. To be alone like this in the dark forever.

Nessa slept on peacefully. Every now and then she would shift in her blankets and begin snuffling again, but for the most part the cabin was totally silent.

Silence had never bothered me before, it did now.

I turned my phone on hoping the shrill beeping of the incoming messages wouldn't wake Nessa. They didn't. Eighteen new messages, fourteen missed calls. They were lessening as the days went on. I deleted the voice messages, I wasn't ready to hear their voices yet. I flicked through the text messages briefly but deleted each one. They were the same as yesterday. Guilty pleas for us to come home and please let them explain and apologise. I wasn't ready for that.

I took my novel and went out on the deck. I slipped into the low chair and sighed. This was going to be my life now. Long days spent amusing my daughter and long, lonely nights without my mate. I stared out across the valley and sighed again. "Wherever you are Edward I hope you're not alone in the dark like me." I whispered into the night.

I yanked the front cover of the novel open and began to read. It was all I had. A dozen novels and an endless black night to read them.

**EPOV**

When she came out onto the little balcony my heart actually crashed against my chest. I had to clamp a hand over my mouth to stifle the moan. I felt my balls clench and my stomach churn as her scent flowed down the hill and into my nostrils.

I'd found them.

She looked so fucking good. No different. She had clean clothes on and her hair shone in the moonlight. She was functioning. She was coping. It was me who wasn't. I looked down at my filthy shirt and jeans, my boots scuffed and muddy. I ran a hand through my greasy hair and pulled at the scruff on my chin.

She was as flawless as always. She slipped her shoes off her perfect feet and pushed them back under her seat. She had a novel in her lap but she let her gaze travel across the valley before she picked it up. She seemed deep in thought, though why I thought that I couldn't be sure. It wasn't as though she had anyone she could be talking to. Like me she was alone.

When she spoke I slid to the ground and clutched my head in my hands. She was miserable. She hoped that I wasn't alone in the dark like her! But I was. Until she returned to me I'd always be in the dark alone.

I'd never be whole until she, and my daughter, came home again.

I stayed right there at the foot of the hill, slumped against that tree until the sun came up. When Nessa's sweet little mental thoughts came alive I stayed long enough to learn that she was excited to be seeing me today and then I ran back to the Veyron at the lake.

I washed my face in the warm water and dried it on the hem of my filthy shirt.

I turned my cell phone back on at seven and was greeted with a dozen well wishing messages from the family and one agonised one from Seth.

I dialled the big house number and got Esme.

"Hello darling. Are you alright?" She asked softly.

"I'm fine Esme. I've found them, they're both okay. Better than okay, they're functioning really well. They're clean and they've got clothes and Nessa is bright and healthy and happy." I told her, though why I ever doubted Bella's ability to cope I didn't know.

"Oh that's wonderful Edward. Will you bring them home today then?" She asked hopefully.

"I hope so. I'll call when I know." I said.

"Seth would like a word Edward. I'll talk to you later today, good luck dear."

I waited while she passed the handset to Seth and then greeted the sad boy.

"Have you seen them yet?" He asked.

"I have. From a distance though. They're fine Seth. I swear it." I told him firmly.

"Bring her home, please." He choked the words out and I knew he was crying once again.

"I'll do my best Seth." I hoped I'd be able to fix it quickly, convince Bella to come home today. For both Seth's sake and my own.

Our pain was the same now, that boy and I were suffering from my stupidity.

I rang off with the promise that I'd text him as soon as I knew when we'd all be home and told him to go and get ready for his day.

It was Monday so Seth would be heading off to school. I hoped I'd be able to have Bella and Nessa home in time for his visit in the afternoon.

I opened the Veyron and sat in the driver's seat to wait for my girls.

**BPOV**

Nessa was so excited to be seeing Edward that she squirmed and wriggled and made it almost impossible to dress her.

"You have to sit still little one or mommy can't do up your dress." I told her.

"Daddy today! Daddy is going to play with me and swing me high and sing with me and let me bite him!" She went on and on and on about it until I could stand it no longer.

I knew Edward would be at the lake already even though it was only seven-thirty. He would've driven like a madman to get there. Nessa needed to drink but she was far too jumpy to be able to catch anything for herself so I promised her we'd do it on the way back to the cabin later today. She didn't care, she just wanted Edward.

When she was dressed I ran a brush through her hair and clipped her hair clips into the sides as she liked best.

I grabbed the cabin keys and my cell phone and slid them both into my jeans pocket. I was nervous and excited and worried all at once. Had I still been human I thought I could quite easily puke!

At the last moment I snatched up two towels from the railing out on the deck and slung them over my shoulder. Nessa would want to swim with him, it was all she'd talked about for days.

I took her hand and we made our way down the hill and into the trees.

His scent floored me when we hit the tree line. Even Nessa baulked when she smelled it. She looked up at me, her impossibly large brown eyes pleading with me to explain. "I don't know darling. I don't know why daddy was here." And with that we ran towards the lake.

As we ran I thought about how he'd found us. I knew we weren't all that well hidden but how he'd come to be standing at the base of the very tree I'd fallen under the day before concerned me.

I had known he'd been looking for us. What man wouldn't? He'd found us but hadn't approached. Why would he stay away? I hoped it was because he knew how angry I was but knowing Edward it was more than likely much more complicated than that.

For half a second I worried that he was planning to snatch Nessa and take her away from me as I had taken her from him.

Oh god. What if I had to spend eternity without them both? Could I do that?

I had to put that awful thought out of my mind as we came closer to the lake. I could smell his actual scent now, not the one he'd left behind in the woods. As the Veyron came into view my stomach lurched.

Nessa let go of my hand and began sprinting towards her father. He unfolded himself from the front seat of his car and stood to his full height, ready to catch her as she jumped and flung herself up into his arms.

"Daddy!" She bellowed like a banshee.

"Oh god Nessa." He growled into her hair.

She peppered his face with tiny kisses and called his name over and over as she clung to him. He breathed her in deeply and hugged her tightly to him.

"You came! You aren't too busy now!" Nessa was so excited to see him she was babbling. I cringed when his face turned to mine and I could see the recognition in his eyes.

"You told her I was too busy to visit?" he whispered over her shoulder as he stared me down.

I held out a hand to ask for him to calm down while he was holding Nessa but before I could he buried his nose in her hair once again and returned his attention to the little girl in his arms.

I walked towards where they stood and put the two towels on the hood of the Veyron.

I took a giant leap of faith and assumed he wasn't going to abduct her from me. "Call me when you want me to collect her Edward." I whispered. "Be good for daddy little one." I told my daughter and then I turned to walk back into the trees.

"You're not staying?" He called to me. "You're just going to walk away again? We're a family Bella." He begged in a choked voice.

I shook my head. "No Edward, we aren't. I'm her mother and you're her father, but we aren't a family. Families share their lives. You share nothing." I hadn't wanted to be cruel, I had wanted to just leave them alone to visit, but when he mentioned being a family I'd seen red.

I gave Nessa one last small smile and then I turned away and ran into the trees.

I ran maybe a mile before I stopped to heave into the bushes. Nothing came out of course. There was nothing in my stomach to be expelled. But still I heaved.

He'd looked like utter shit. He was filthy, unshaven, his hair matted and greasy. His eyes were dull and his shoulders had slumped in defeat when I'd shouted at him at the end. I'd broken him. But still I wanted him. I wanted him impossibly more than I ever had before.

I choked back my sobs as best I could and sat down on the cool grass. My stomach was still churning and the ache had intensified the instant I'd smelled him at the foot of the hill.

I sat there for a little while and wallowed in my pain. I let it wash over me like water did in the shower. It covered me entirely, from the top of my head to the ends of my toes. It pinched and twitched along my skin until all I could feel was the pain. Nothing had ever felt like this before. Even those few hours when I thought I'd lost Nessa, the day she was born, didn't feel like this.

I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. I gave myself a stern lecture and tried to mentally pull myself together. I wasn't weak, I wasn't useless. I'd left for a reason and that reason still existed. Edward was beyond being able to share himself with me. He wasn't capable of treating me as an equal. He wasn't willing to even try. He'd lied to me time and time again and then he'd withdrawn his love and affection from me so easily. I didn't know why and wondered if it was to do with our age difference. That he'd been born in a time when men ruled their households, when they took care of the important stuff and left the women to the menial tasks and to raising the children.

It didn't matter what the reason was. He'd cast me out of his life and I'd run when I'd had the chance.

I didn't want a half life, not if I had to live it for eternity.

I got to my feet and dusted my jeans off. I walked back to the cabin and washed my face in the little sink in the bathroom. I brushed my hair and tried to calm myself down a little.

When I was sure I was able to deal with it I took out my cell phone and dialled directory assistance.

"What name please?" Came the dull voice.

"Forks Estate Agents please." I asked.

"Would you like that number sent to your phone?"

"Please."

I closed the phone and waited for the beep. When it came I jotted the number down on the note pad beside the bed and then I dialled it.

When it was answered I took a deep breath and began making plans for a new life. "My name is Bella Swan and I need a rental in Forks please."

**EPOV**

Nessa and I swam for an hour and when she began to tire of it we got out and I dried her on the towel Bella had bought for her. I slipped her pretty little dress back over her head and did my best to dry her hair.

I pulled my putrid clothing back on over my soaking wet boxer shorts and slipped my boots back on.

"What would you like to do now little one?" I asked my beautiful little girl.

"I'm thirsty daddy. Mommy said we'd hunt after your visit, but you can come with me, can't you?" She tilted her head to the side as she asked. Her eyes imploring me to go with her.

"Of course I can." I told her. "Mommy showed you how to hunt did she?" I asked, intrigued.

Nessa stood up and held out her hand for me. When I put mine in hers she dragged me towards the trees. "Come on daddy, don't be afraid. I'll teach you like mommy teached me." She said sternly.

I couldn't help but laugh. My five month old daughter wanted to teach me to hunt. It was priceless and it broke my heart.

I let her lead me through the forest and I held her little hand in mine as we ran. She was fast, very fast. Her centre of gravity was low to the ground and she kept her concentration on only the sounds around her as she moved. When she smelled the deer to our left she stopped abruptly. She stood out of her crouch and sniffed the air carefully. She turned her eyes to mine and nodded.

_'Be quiet daddy. They run away if you are loud.' _She screwed up her eyes as she thought it at me as though I was having a lesson and she was the teacher.

She hunched over into a tiny crouch, just as we did, and then she shot off through the trees quick as she could. In her mind she ran over the 'rules' Bella had taught her. Be quick, be strong, be quiet. I ran behind her and ducked through the bushes in time to see her leap at a small roe deer and crash it to the ground, snapping its neck with her hands before she pulled it into her lap and held it tightly, just as her mother did.

The crushing weight of my longing for Bella overtook me in that moment and I sank to my knees.

"Are you thirsty too daddy?" Nessa asked me.

All I could do was shake my head. She bared her teeth, a tiny hiss escaping her lips as she lowered her mouth to hover over where her little plump fingers had found the pulsing jugular. As she prepared to bite she removed her fingers and sunk her tiny teeth into the flesh. She was suckling at the beast within seconds, a low rumbling sigh coming from her throat as she drank.

I lowered my head into my hands and sobbed.

She was so like Bella. So utterly perfect in every way.

My Bella.

My Bella who believed I didn't know how to share myself with her. It wasn't the truth but I could see how she would think it was.

My Bella.

My Renesmee.

My life.

**BPOV**

I knew he wouldn't phone when he wanted her collected. I knew he would bring her to me, at the cabin.

I had been prepared for that. What I hadn't been prepared for was the utter devastation on his face when he arrived.

He knocked on the door and when I answered it he had a sleeping Renesmee in his arms. I silently showed him into the cabin and walked ahead of him into Nessa's room. He laid her down on the bed and covered her with the blankets. I tucked Frank under her arm and then he kissed her curls.

"Sleep well angel." He whispered and patted her once more before leaving the room.

I followed him into the little living room. "Thank you for bringing her back." I told him truthfully. I was pleased he'd bought her back to me.

He stood in the middle of the room utterly broken. He looked worse, if it was possible, than he did this morning. His face was drawn and his eyes were devoid of life. He stuck his hands into his jeans pockets and rocked on his heels. "She hunted." He nodded towards Nessa's bedroom.

"Okay." I replied.

"She's good at it." He mumbled.

"She is. A natural." I agreed.

"Come home." He begged.

"No." I told him.

His eyes shot up and he stared at me, afraid. "Then where. Tell me where you want to go and I'll make it happen. We can go wherever you want."

He'd misunderstood.

"No Edward. I'm not going anywhere with you. Nessa and I are going back to Forks at the end of the week, but not to the cottage or to the Cullen house. I've taken an apartment in town. We'll stay there until I can decide what I want to do longer term."

I knew this news would crush him but it had to be done.

I waited for his anger but it never came. Instead he simply nodded. "Will you not even allow me to explain?" He begged.

"I needed your explanation a month ago Edward. I don't need it anymore." I whispered.

"You aren't safe." He said quietly.

"I'm no safer with you when I don't know what's coming. I'll take my chances." I said sourly and almost stumbled when I saw his cringe.

"You can't protect her from this."

"I don't know what 'this' is you fucking idiot. You didn't trust me enough to tell me. Now get out." I yelled, surprising even myself at the venom in my voice.

He made to walk towards the door that I now held open. He put his hand flat against it and turned to me. "When can I see you both again?"

"I'll bring her to you tomorrow, I have to go to town to sign the papers for the flat."

"At the house?" He asked.

"Ten. I'll bring her at ten."

"Good night Bella. I love you." He said softly and then he was gone.

**EPOV**

"What do you mean she isn't coming home?" Esme cried.

I hung my head and shook it. "It means what it means Esme. She isn't coming home, maybe never." I told her.

Her sobs ripped through me like a knife through butter. Carlisle held her and tried to console her but she wouldn't have it. She thrashed against him and fled up the stairs to their suite in anguish. She cursed me and then she cursed Seth before flinging herself down onto the mattress and sobbing some more.

"She doesn't mean it." Carlisle mumbled.

"She does and I don't blame her." I told him truthfully.

"What exactly did she say?" Carlisle asked carefully.

I scrubbed at my beard and sighed. "She said she was coming back to Forks at the weeks end but not to here, or the cottage. She's taken a lease I think, on a flat in town." I admitted.

"Fuck." He muttered. It wasn't often that Carlisle cursed but it fitted the atmosphere in the house perfectly. "And did she say why?"

"I didn't need to fucking ask why Carlisle. She knows I've been lying to her. She knows something is coming, she said we weren't a family because families share and I wouldn't share with her. I can't tell you how it felt to be told that and to know it was the truth."

"We are all equally as guilty for that Edward. Any one of us could've told her at any time. None of us are free from this guilt. I'm so sorry son." He put his hand on my shoulder and I felt all his own hurt and anguish roll out of him and into me.

"I told her she wasn't safe and she said she wasn't any safer with me than she was alone, because I wouldn't confide in her." I choked as I said it aloud. The crushing weight of the truth was agonising. "She thinks I didn't tell her because I couldn't trust her with it." I ran my hand through my hair once again and cursed for being so fucking stupid.

"We'll sort it out Edward. I know you're hurting from being apart from her but so is she. Being away from your mate is like no other pain. You know that to be true. You might have to be patient but you two are meant for each other, true soul mates. We'll work it out." He tried to soothe me but it was no use.

"I hope so." I mumbled and went up the stairs to our suite to bury myself in her scent.

I pulled the blanket around myself and drank her in. It was fading already.

I was still sitting there, wrapped in the blanket when Seth stormed into the room at sunrise.

"Where are they?" He bellowed, throwing the door to the nursery open and searching it for Nessa. He turned back to me and flared his nostrils. "Where are they?" He stormed.

"They aren't here Seth. They aren't coming back here." I told him.

His pain and anger flared instantly. He settled his eyes on me and I prepared to defend myself. His thoughts were of the best way to tear me apart. Should he begin with my limbs or my cold, dead heart? His flesh rippled and dimpled as he fought the desire to phase. "Outside." He snarled and leapt from the open glass doors, landing as a wolf on the grass below.

I sighed. I deserved this, I knew that, and yet I was still reluctant to fight with Seth.

If I let him rip me apart I'd be spared ever having to admit that I'd lost my wife and child through pig headedness. I'd never have to admit to myself that it was my fault. I would never have to listen to Bella tell me she didn't want me, never have to live through watching her from afar as she lived her life. Yes, if I let Seth kill me now I'd be spared eternity alone.

I took one last, long satisfying pull of her scent on the blanket and then I tossed it aside. I turned and faced the portraits over the bed. "I love you Bella. With all that I am I never meant to hurt you. I love you baby."

I went to the glass doors and let myself fall to the ground below.

Seth was pacing up and down in front of the new pool house. He was snarling and a foamy trail hung out his mouth as he let his anger have free reign.

_'You drove them away. I hate you, you fucker.' _He told me silently.

"I did, I did drive her away. I hate myself." I told him.

He howled loudly into the air and pawed at the ground. _'You should've told her, you should've told me. Now they're gone.'_ He stormed in his thoughts.

"I should've, you're right." I agreed. "Just do it Seth. I can't live without her anyway. It's a half life." I closed my eyes and spread my hands, palm up, in supplication and waited for him to lunge.

When I saw the decision form in his mind I said another silent goodbye to my beloved wife and steeled myself for the final death.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. These few chapters have been really hard for me to write. So filled with pain. Both sides are so stubborn. I hope you are finding them interesting and have found something in this one to peak your interest. If so please review. **


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24 – A plan

24.

**BPOV**

As I drove towards Forks I began to tremble. Nessa was excited to be going to the big house again and all she could talk about was seeing her daddy and her Nana-Ne.

I was terrified of the reception I was going to get, and from whom. Would they all be there? Would it just be Edward?

I pulled the Taurus into the driveway and got out. Nobody came to greet me and there were no other cars standing idle. The garage door was shut so I didn't know who was in the house, if anyone.

"Stay there for a minute please Nessa." I waited for her to nod and then I went to the front door.

I was about to knock when I heard snarling. Not vampire snarling, wolf snarling.

I sniffed the air and smelled both Seth and Edward. They were in the yard somewhere, not inside the house. Could they be fighting? The snarling and growling was growing in intensity as I made my way around the side of the house.

The scene I was greeted with chilled me to the core.

Edward stood with his arms outstretched, his hands face up as though he was offering himself to Seth.

Seth was in his wolf form and he was prancing and snarling at Edward with such ferocity I was instantly afraid.

I crept up on them and got as close as I could without putting myself in the line of fire. I watched Seth rocked back on his hind legs and steady himself, he dipped his head and stared at Edward intensely.

Edward closed his eyes and nodded at whatever it was Seth had just thought.

"Just do it Seth. I can't live without her anyway. It's a half life." Edward said.

Seth bared his teeth and sunk lower onto his back legs, preparing to lunge at him.

It felt like slow motion as I ran to where they stood. I knew I was growling and hissing as I ran but the sound was muted in my ears. All I could hear was Edward's soft sigh.

I barrelled into Edward with such force he was flung backwards into the pool house wall. I stood as quickly as I could and with my hands I pushed him still further, trying to get him away from Seth, as far away as possible in the quickest time possible. I pushed him so hard he crashed through the tall glass windows and fell to the tiled floor inside.

I didn't have time to see if he was alright – my mind couldn't register that nothing would hurt him other than Seth – because I was underneath Seth myself.

He'd continued his lunge because I'd dived for Edward at the same moment he'd dived for him. He fell on top of me and had me pinned to the ground in half a second.

I put my hands up to protect myself from his snapping jaws but was met with a warm, wet tongue instead of razor sharp teeth. He'd sheathed his teeth at the last moment and pulled out of the lunge as best he could. He hadn't been able to stop himself from falling forward and I'd borne the brunt of his fall.

He barked loudly right in my face and then he leapt up and off me, leaving me panting on the ground.

Then Edward was above me, pulling me to my feet, shaking me by the shoulders and screaming into my shocked face.

"What the fuck Bella. You could've been killed. Are you hurt? Oh fuck. Bella?" He bellowed.

I looked over his shoulder and caught a last glimpse of Seth as he phased back to his human form. I blinked hard and turned my eyes back to Edward. "I'm fine. Are you?" I rasped.

"Me? I'm fine. Christ Bella, he could've killed you, what the fuck were you thinking?" He stormed, shaking me back and forth between his hands.

I shrugged off his hands and his eyes flew open wide in shock. Where a few seconds ago I was shocked and frightened as hell now I was mad. Really mad.

"What the fuck do you mean what the fuck was I thinking? What the fuck were you thinking Edward? You were just standing there; he was going to kill you!" I shrieked.

"I know that." He yelled condescendingly, as though that had been his plan all along.

I sucked in a breath. Oh my god. That had been his plan all along. He was going to let Seth kill him. That's why his hands had hung passively at his sides. He _was_ offering himself to Seth.

I closed the distance between us with one large stride. I pulled my arm back and socked him in the jaw with every ounce of strength I could muster. He fell to the ground, not from pain but from shock, I think. I stood over him. I was going to start yelling, shout at him how fucking stupid it was to give up. How pathetic it was to go on a suicide mission. How angry I was that he thought he could just leave me so easily, leave me here with Nessa all on my own. But standing there, looking down at him I saw much more than what I'd seen before.

I saw my future.

I saw us always fighting like this. I saw us, a hundred years from now, in this same position. Me angry and Edward hiding something. I saw us treading water while he decided whether or not to trust me. I saw me feeling hurt and alone because my husband couldn't treat me as his equal. I saw our daughter growing up thinking it was okay for the man to know everything and the woman to blindly follow his lead.

I didn't want that. I didn't want that life for myself.

So instead of yelling I took a deep cleansing breath and stared him down. "I don't want this Edward." I turned to Seth who was cowering at the side of the pool house. I went to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm going into town now Seth. Go home. I'll meet you there in an hour; you can visit with Nessa there."

Then I turned on my heel and stalked back to my car.

Nessa was crying softly in her car seat and she didn't stop again until I put her into Seth's hands an hour later at the Rez.

**EPOV**

Seth didn't wait for a thing. As soon as Bella said she'd bring Nessa to the Rez he was gone. Off and away through the trees on his way home.

I watched her walk away from me, again, and I knew that things were now infinitely worse than they had been, and they had been very, very bad before.

I got to my feet and rubbed my jaw. She packed quite a punch, my wife. It hadn't hurt, of course, well at least not physically. But knowing I'd made her angry enough for her to hit me again made me smile. She'd promised me she'd never hit me ever again, but she had. And it made me very, very happy indeed.

She loved me. It was proof as surely as if she'd written it in blood on my forehead. She loved me. She loved me enough to throw herself in between me and a wolf. She loved me enough to break her promise not to strike me. She loved me enough to bother. If she didn't love me she'd have let him do it. She would've been free of me, free to do with Nessa as she pleased. But she didn't let him touch me, she'd protected me. She loved me.

Oh sure, she hated things about me too. I could see that in her eyes. She was very angry with me, but under it all was love.

She had said she didn't want this and to anyone else that would've been a crushing thing to hear. But to me it was filled with hope. I knew Bella, I knew the way she thought. I knew her better than I knew myself sometimes.

She hadn't said she didn't want _me. _She said she didn't want _this. _I couldn't have agreed more. I didn't want _this_ either. I didn't want to fight. I didn't want to struggle to survive. I didn't want to hurt her and I didn't want to be hurt. I didn't want to make decisions for her, without her. I didn't want a life without her.

I dusted myself off and went in search of a broom and dustpan to clean up the glass in the pool house. All the while I whistled a happy tune.

Bella loved me.

It wasn't going to be easy to win her back, but for a dumb guy I was pretty smart and I could grovel like a bitch!

**BPOV**

Once Nessa was settled at the Clearwater's for her visit I asked Sue if it would be alright if I took off for a little while. She didn't take her eyes off Nessa and waved to me, saying it was fine, to take my time.

I turned the Taurus back towards town and stopped outside the Police Station.

I flung myself into Charlie's arms and hugged him carefully. He expressed his disappointment with me for running away and I promised I wouldn't do it again. I told him about the apartment and while he was shocked and sad for me he took the news with solemn grace.

I promised he could come see Nessa whenever he wanted to and I promised I'd bring her to visit with him and Renee as much, if not more, than I did before.

I left him and went to see my mother at the daycare centre. I presented myself at the front counter and was soon dragged through reception and into her office for a good talking to.

For someone who had walked out on my father when I was a baby she sure was full of righteous indignation. I listened quietly for a while and then I told her to shut up. She blinked hard but let me have my say.

When I explained what had gone on over the past month or two she agreed I'd had to do something. She didn't agree with me leaving the way I did, even though it's exactly what she'd done, but she understood why I needed to go.

I gave her the same speech about the apartment and about Nessa and I promised not to leave again without telling her first.

With that done I drove out of town towards the Cullen house hoping that my next discussion would go much smoother, but knowing that it wouldn't.

This time Edward was waiting on the front porch.

He flew down the stairs and was at my door before I'd turned the ignition off. He turned his nose up at my choice of car but I ignored it. Beggars couldn't be choosers sometimes.

He held the door open for me and offered me his hand, which I took. I hid the small surge of pleasure I felt when our skin contacted, the sting of electricity that always flowed between us was still there, of course.

"Come inside, love." He said evenly.

I nodded but said nothing.

I was prepared for anger, I was prepared for begging. I wasn't prepared for a happy Edward.

He ushered me inside and we sat opposite one another in the living room. I looked around and listened for the others but the house was empty. "Where are they?" I asked.

"Out. They wanted us to have some privacy." He shrugged. "How are you Bella?" He asked evenly.

I was taken aback. I really wasn't sure what to say. "I'm okay." It was all I could come up with. "And you?"

"I'm fine." He said quietly. "Have you signed your papers in town then?" He asked without a hint of apprehension.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Good, good. When do you move in? Would you like some help?" He asked.

I stared at him wondering what the catch was. "Um, I have the keys now, so maybe tomorrow, I guess." I told him hesitantly.

He nodded this time. "I'm staying here so you can go to the cottage whenever you like, your things are all there."

"Okay, thanks." There really wasn't anything else to say. "Can I leave Nessa with you while I collect my things then?" I asked as an afterthought.

He smiled then, really smiled and my stomach clenched. His beautiful crooked smile took my breath away and I had to look away. The mention of his daughter made him smile like that now, not me. I should be pleased, but I wasn't. It hurt. "I'd like that. I'll bring her by when you're finished. Can you text me the address?"

"Sure." I mumbled, wondering why he wasn't fighting me. Maybe he had changed his mind; maybe he didn't want me now? "I guess I should go and collect her from the Rez now." I stood up from the sofa and moved towards the door.

He leapt from his seat and was at the door before I had time to blink. He held it open for me and swept his hand across his body to usher me through it. I smiled my thanks and jangled my keys in my hand.

"Nice car by the way." He smiled.

"Thanks." I laughed.

He walked with me to the car and he bent to open the door for me. I turned to say goodbye and he took a small step towards me and kissed me lightly on the cheek. "Bye Bella. Stay safe." And then he ran back to the steps to wait for me to leave.

I slid into my seat and drove out the drive with my brows furrowed.

What the fuck was that about?

**EPOV**

Oh yeah, I'm the man!

I mentally high fived myself and closed the front door behind me.

She loved me. I could see it in her eyes. She fucking adored me; she was just hurt and angry. I didn't blame her, I was a total bastard and I deserved all the anger she could heap onto me.

I felt the sting of her skin on mine and I knew when she felt it too because she flinched. It was still there, it always would be. I just had to make her want to feel it again. I knew I could.

Didn't change a thing though. I loved her and she loved me. I just had to make her realize that I got it now.

I knew what she meant now. I knew what she wanted from me and I was finally prepared to give it to her. I wasn't willing to lose her. I wasn't willing to settle for just being the father of her child. I was her husband and for the first time ever I was prepared to behave like it.

She had left confused. She'd come thinking I'd beg, that I'd make a scene. That I'd be angry and we'd fight and she could slink off and know she had been right about me. But instead I'd turned the tables on her.

I'd been polite and happy and relaxed and she'd had no idea how to handle that.

I had a date to see her and Nessa tomorrow and I was damn well going to take full advantage of it. I had to go back to basics even though Bella and I had never had basics in the first place. We'd rushed headlong, through necessity admittedly, into this relationship and had been married and parents within months. Now I had a chance to do it, from the beginning, the way it should've been done.

"You sort it out Carlisle. Do whatever you think is necessary." I told him.

He looked at me and his expression matched his shocked thoughts. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"I mean what I say. You're head of this coven, do whatever you think must be done to fix the Romanian problem. I'll go along with whatever you decide." I told him.

"So you've given up?" Emmett asked. He was pissed off and I could feel it as well as hear it in his thoughts.

I laughed. "No Em, I've not given up. I've just got other things to do." I turned to Alice. "You'll see it if and when they decide to come here to get at Seth and the wolves, won't you?" I asked.

"Of course I will." She was being belligerent.

"Right. So, until they decide to come here there is nothing we can do. If you want to do something proactive I'm in, but if you want to wait I'm good with that." I told Carlisle who was staring at me as though I was an alien being.

"What has happened to you, dear?" Esme asked softly, reaching toward me across the table.

I smiled at her as widely as I could. "Nothing's happened to me. There is no point worrying what's coming for my family if I don't have one, is there? So I'm going to fix that first."

"I see." She creased her forehead and stared at me intently.

"And how do you propose to do that Ed?" Jasper asked.

I turned and smiled at him. "I'm going to hit the dating scene."

I laughed at their shocked faces.

**BPOV**

I collected Nessa and drove us back to Elwha to the cabin.

Nessa slept like a log that night, hardly shifting in her sleep at all. Which was good because I needed every hour the night could spare me to think about what had happened that day.

First Edward had tried to commit suicide, via Seth no less. Then he'd yelled at me for being reckless. Then I'd broken my promise and had hit him, again. Then when I thought I was prepared for his protestations and begging he totally floored me by being the total opposite. Polite, respectful of my decisions and he seemed at ease and relaxed into the bargain.

I was falling apart at the seams and he was relaxed and happy!

I lay on the bed for hours running over our brief conversation today, looking for some clue as to what he was up to. I couldn't find it, if it was there. He'd either lost his mind or he had given up on me, on us, and was going to concentrate on being a good father to Nessa. I could hardly fault him for that part. But I wanted him to want me. I wanted him to be miserable, like I was. I wanted him to be lonely and to want me like I wanted him. I wanted him to be breathless when I touched him, like I was today when he touched my hand.

Why wasn't he?

When we'd fought before he had been miserable, just like me. This time felt different.

It frightened me. I was a fucking idiot. I'd pushed him too far by leaving. I wanted him to pay for lying to me sure, but I didn't want to divorce. At first all he wanted was for me to come home, now he seemed pleased that I was going to collect my things from the cottage and move into the apartment. What the fuck?

When the sun crept up the valley I resolved to watch and listen to him very carefully today to find out what was up with him.

When Nessa and I had hunted and she was bathed and dressed, and our little car was packed with our few possessions and our bill settled, I drove us back to Forks.

Nessa was excited to be going to the big house for the day while I packed and moved our things from the cottage, but I was nervous and anxious. I knew I couldn't avoid them all for much longer. My luck would run out eventually and I'd be forced to interact with the family.

As it was they were all at the house when we arrived.

Nessa ran into Esme's arms the instant I released the buckles on her car seat and she was able to run up the steps.

I was thrown a hasty hello by everyone in turn and I smiled and waved my hello in return.

Alice and Rosie patted her back and kissed her soundly, all the while telling her how much they'd missed her.

The boys crowded around her and swamped her once the girls had backed off and let them. Nobody paid too much mind to me. Except Edward.

He came down the stairs and stood beside me at the open car door. He reached out his hand, as he had yesterday, and I put mine into his. The sting of his touch rocketed itself up my arm and into my chest. He looked as though he hadn't noticed. Maybe he hadn't.

He leaned in and kissed me softly on the cheek. "Good morning Bella, are you well?" He asked.

I looked up at him, noted his smile and nodded. "I am."

"Good. So, you do what you have to do today and text me when you're ready for me to bring her to your place." He patted me on the shoulder and then left me standing there while he went to join the family inside where they'd taken Nessa.

O-k-a-y then, I thought, as I ran towards the cottage. That was weird.

It was like nothing had ever happened and I'd just bought Nessa to the house as usual for the day. Nobody mentioned me leaving, nobody mentioned me moving out. Nothing was said about me being gone for the past eight days and nobody mentioned anything about the trouble that I was sure was still brewing.

The cottage was just as I'd left it. Edward hadn't been there. I knew that because his scent was very feint.

I filled a bag with my clothes and one with Nessa's. I took my toiletries and hers and stuffed them into a bag. I put my laptop into its carry case and added a few of my favourite novels and books. I put the dock and my iPod from my bedside table into the bag and went into the living room to select some other books for Nessa.

I took the bags back to the big house and stuffed them into the trunk of the Taurus. I used my key to unlock the garage and ran a loving hand over the Elise as I slid past it and went into my darkroom. No, not my darkroom anymore, just a darkroom.

I scooped all my memory cards off the desk and put them into my pocket. I took my camera down off its dock in the printer and put it into its protective case. I rolled all of its cords and leads into a ball and put them in the side pocket of the case. I took the box down from the printer and packed it back into its Styrofoam then slid it back into its box. I didn't feel guilty taking this with me, it was mine after all. It was no good to anyone else, either.

I took the box out to the Taurus and added it to the small pile of bags already there. I went back to the darkroom and pulled down a box of photo paper and walked it to the car. One last trip saw me putting the camera bag in the trunk and then I went to the front door and rang the bell.

I'd never rung it before, not once, not even before Edward and I were dating. Huh. Edward and I had never really dated, I realized. We'd gone from detention acquaintances to lovers to spouses to parents in a matter of months. We'd never dated.

It was an odd thing for me to be thinking as I stood there waiting for someone to open the door for me.

When they did it was Carlisle who greeted me. He pulled me to his chest and hugged me tightly. "I've missed you." He whispered into my hair.

"I've missed you too, dad." I told him honestly.

He stepped away and went to usher me inside but I shook my head. "I just wanted to let Edward know that I'm leaving now. Could you tell him I'll text when I'm unpacked and he can bring Nessa?"

Carlisle's eyes got sad then, but he nodded all the same. "Alright Bella, I'll tell him. We'll see you soon though, right?" He asked.

"Of course." I told him and headed back down the steps to my car.

Without another look back I drove out of the driveway and into town to my apartment.

**EPOV**

"What the hell are you playing at Edward?" Carlisle boomed at me.

I laughed, which made him angrier. "I'm not playing at anything Carlisle. I swear. I'm just doing what she wants me to do." I told him.

"So you're okay with her taking a flat in town and moving in there with your daughter?" Jasper asked as he joined the circle of people questioning me like a criminal.

"Of course he's not, but he's got a plan, haven't you Edward?" Alice giggled.

I looked to where she sat and winked at her. Of course she'd already seen what I had planned, even if she couldn't really see the outcome yet because Bella hadn't decided anything. Not truly decided anything anyway.

Keeping Nessa away from Bella today had been like a cloud being blown away by a stiff wind for Alice. She suddenly had full sight of Bella and could once again see clear visions of her. She kept many of them from me as they simply weren't any of my business, yet. But others she purposely let me see.

I'd seen us at the beach, Bella in a tiny black bikini trying her best to flirt with me. She'd let me see us dancing and she'd shown me myself standing at a door in a suit trembling with nerves while I waited for her come out with me.

There were other images too, and those ones I clung to through all the lonely hours of the day and night while we were apart. Pictures of us both swimming with Nessa in the pool house and at the little beach by the river. The three of us in our meadow in the bright sunshine and of Bella and I curled up on the sofa watching television, Nessa asleep in my lap.

So Alice knew what the plan was but the others thought I had lost my mind. They were all gaping at me, waiting for me to let them into the 'plan'.

"Fine." I huffed. "Yes, I have a plan." Alice clapped her hands and jumped up so she could sit right beside me, far too close to me actually. "Bella doesn't trust me and it's my own fault. She said she doesn't want what we have now and I agree. So I intend to show her what we can have. I'm going to date her." I announced proudly.

Emmett jumped up and fist bumped me and Jasper clapped me on the back soundly. Rosie kissed me on the cheek and Carlisle and Esme beamed at me from across the room.

"Of course we'll help Edward. Just tell us what you need us to do." Esme offered.

"I might need you guys to babysit now and then, if I'm going to be able to take Bella out." Everyone murmured how simple that was for them, how much of a pleasure it would be. "And I'm going to need some privacy sometimes and at other times I'm going to need you guys around even though it might seem like I don't want you around." I hoped that made sense.

It did to the three men who all shot me knowing looks and said how clever I was in their thoughts. The women thought I was insane.

"So you want us to stick around even though you won't look like you want us around? What's that supposed to mean?" Asked Rosalie.

I chuckled, "Ahh, well, I want to seduce her, you see. I just don't want to give in too soon. And if we're left alone I won't be able to control myself and I know I'll give in, so if you guys hang around now and then I won't be able to go too far too soon." If I had the ability to blush I would have.

Rose snorted her laughter so loudly I thought she was going to shatter a window but all in all they all agreed they were in and they'd help in any way I cared to ask.

"There is something else I need from you all." I told them. "I need you to forgive her." I hung my head and waited for the backlash. It didn't come.

"Edward, there is nothing to forgive. We were wrong. It's as simple as that. We all had a hand in breaking this, we'll all help fix it." Esme said plainly as the others all nodded their agreement.

Apparently that was all that needed to be said. They felt as guilty as I did but they were also willing to put it behind us if it meant we could all be a family again.

They scattered when Nessa began to stir from her nap. They all ran up the stairs and battled for the right to pluck her from her bed and play with her. Emmett won round one through sheer force of weight.

**BPOV**

The apartment was ugly. It was dull and boring and it was ugly. But it was mine for the next three months, at least.

It was on the bottom of two floors of likewise apartments and it was number three in a row across. It was little more than four rooms. A bedroom for myself, a single room for Nessa that would fit a single bed if I was lucky. A bathroom off a little hall that had no bath, only a shower stall with a foot deep tray on the floor that would hold a little water for Nessa. And one main room that was kitchen living room and entry all in one. It was so small that the clothes washer was tucked under a shelf in the linen closet in the hall.

There were two small bookcases built into the wall either side of the fireplace but other than that there was not a stick of furniture. That didn't bother me as much as the smell did. I had known it was going to be bad, the agent had said it had been closed up all winter, but I couldn't abide the dingy smell that hit my nostrils when I first opened the door.

I walked my few bags and boxes into the place and put them in the rooms they were going to live in. There was no point unpacking anything because there was nothing to unpack into.

Grabbing my keys I pulled the door shut behind me and drove into town.

First I went to Monroe's Furniture Store. I bought a bed for myself and one for Nessa. I bought a small table and chairs, a small sofa and matching chair and a pair of end tables. I picked a white dresser for Nessa's things and timber one for mine and asked for it all to be delivered to my new apartment. With a healthy tip and a nice crisp hundred dollar bill placed daintily into the salesman's hand I was assured it would all be there, and assembled, by nightfall.

My next stop was to Bed Bath and Beyond where I bought linen, towels, lamps, cushions pillows and blankets. I loaded it all into the trunk of the Taurus and headed to the next shop along to buy a few simple cleaning things.

I was loading it all into my trunk when I heard my name being called. I turned to see Angela running across the two lanes of traffic, waving at me frantically.

"Bella! Bella!" She called.

I groaned.

She hugged me tightly and we stood on the curb to talk. "Hey Ange, how are you?" I asked politely.

"I'm great. What's all this?" She asked, pointing to the mountain of shopping in my trunk.

I shrugged. "I guess I caught Alice' shopping bug." I tried my best to behave as normal.

"Wow, you sure did." She laughed. "I have to go, I have an interview at the real estate agency. I've applied to work the reception, wish me luck." And with that she squeezed me again and ran off down the sidewalk towards my agents offices.

"Shit." I muttered, knowing it wouldn't be long before Angela worked out I had left Edward if she got that job.

There was nothing I could do about that for now so I drove back to the apartment and began sorting out the new things I'd bought. I spent a little while cleaning the rooms ready for their furniture and for Nessa.

At four the truck arrived with my furniture and by six it was all inside and all assembled exactly as the salesman had promised.

After I waved them goodbye I texted Edward the address and told him to bring Nessa by anytime he was ready.

He arrived in the Guardian at six-thirty with a very sleepy little girl in his arms. I took her from him and put her into her newly made bed before going back to the front door to greet him properly.

"Come on in Edward." I told him, stepping aside to let him through the door.

He stood in the centre of the room and turned around slowly. "I like it. It's cosy." He announced after a few minutes.

"Sure it is." I mumbled. I wasn't ashamed of where we were going to be living but compared to the cottage and the big house it was a dump and I knew it. So did he.

We stood in silence for a few minutes because there was nothing to say or to do. He didn't need to sit, I couldn't offer him a refreshment and neither of us knew what to say about the situation. It was awkward.

"I wanted to ask..." He began at the same time that I said, "I wondered if you would..."

We stood staring at each other for a half a second and then we both laughed.

"You first, please." I said.

He nodded at me, "Okay, I was just going to ask if you would like to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night? Esme has said she'd be happy to watch Nessa for us."

I couldn't help but giggle. "Edward we don't eat." I laughed.

"I know that. But normal people go out to dinner when they want to talk Bella. I think talking would be nice, don't you?" He asked earnestly, wiping the smile off my face.

Here it comes, I thought. Emo Edward is back. He wants to 'talk'.

"I'm still not good at hiding the fact that I don't eat so let's not go to a restaurant." I was negotiating.

"Okay. I'll sort something else out. Is that a yes, you'll go out with me?" He asked with a cheeky smile that set my heart racing it was so beautiful.

I thought about it for half a second before answering. "Yes, I will go out with you Edward."

"Good. I'll come by for Nessa at six and be back for you at six-thirty." He stepped towards me and put his hand on my elbow. He held on to it for a moment as though he was trying to decide whether he wanted to do what he was planning. He pulled me a little closer and put a soft kiss on my cheek. "Good night Bella. I hope you enjoy your first night in your new place."

I closed my eyes and drank in his potent scent. I clung to the front of his shirt, fisting my fingers in the soft material. He had double layers on, another shirt under the first.

I was still contemplating that when he pulled away.

And then he was gone.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you have found something of interest in my story please review and let me know. If you hate it and want my address so you can organise a professional hit, please review. :)**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – The Approach

25.

**EPOV**

I was descended upon the instant I walked in through the front door, just as I had been on the very first day of school.

"Well?" asked Esme.

"Did she accept?" asked Jasper.

"Did she slug you again?" asked Emmett.

"Let him be. I told you all she accepted, she didn't hit him but she did lean in when he kissed her goodbye." Alice told them. "And she pulled him closer using his shirt." She scoffed, raising her eyebrows. "I think she thought you were going all emo when you said you wanted to talk though." She crinkled her eyes up at that.

"I didn't say I wanted to talk, I said I thought talking was nice." I corrected.

"Either way she thinks you want to talk about your problems." Alice stuck her tongue out at me.

"Thanks Alice." I scowled at her playfully. "I'll try to remember to keep the conversation light then, if she's worried about that." I let her cuff my hair as she went by. "It went ok. The place is a dump but it's clean and it's closer than the middle of the forest." I told the others, knowing they'd want to know where she was and how she was living.

"I drove past tonight, it's horrible. I've volunteered for the first watch." Emmett announced proudly.

I just gaped at him. "What are you on about?" I asked.

"You can't just leave her there unprotected Edward." Carlisle said, coming into the room and sitting by me on the sofa. "Our troubles haven't disappeared and you yourself said we shouldn't rely solely on Alice' visions. We are going to watch the place, like we should."

I wanted to be pissed about it but I wasn't. "I don't want her to know though. She'll assume I've set it up and she won't be happy about it." I warned them.

"She'll never know bro." Emmett slapped me upside the head on his way out the door for his first shift.

"It won't be so easy this time Em, she's one of us now, she'll hear you and see you and probably smell you a mile away. Not to mention Nessa. If she gets a whiff of you guys hanging around she'll dump you in it." I told them.

"So I'll be stealthy, I can do stealthy." He shrugged and went out the door anyway.

I went up to our suite and used my laptop to order all the things I would need over the next few days. I made enquiries about a wine bar in Port Angeles for the following nights date and I enlisted Alice' help with my wardrobe. She was thrilled to help even though after half an hour I was ushering her out of the room with promises to think about what she'd suggested.

At two in the morning I turned my cell phone on and sent her a text. I kept it simple.

~Thinking of you. Love, E xx ~

I got no reply but that was okay, I knew she was confused by my behaviour. It would take a little while for her to get with my program, but I was confident she would.

That night I surrounded myself again with the blanket that held onto her scent the strongest. I took it with me into Nessa's nursery and sat in the rocker, surrounded by my memories of our life before I'd fucked it up.

**BPOV**

Saturday dawned warm and sunny, a crap day to be a vampire that lived in amongst humans in a suburban street in Forks Washington.

Nessa was thirsty but I couldn't take her outside to put her in the car so she could hunt. I thought about calling Edward, asking him to bring her some blood in a pouch, but I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want to ask him for anything. Not the very first day of my new life anyway. I wanted to be independent, to show him that I could survive, and survive well, without him.

I went to the tiny kitchen window and looked out towards the trees at the back of the yard. They were only twenty feet away and there was a covered patio that stretched maybe ten of those feet off the back of the building. If I took Nessa out the backdoor and through the patio I could get us to the trees if I was sure nobody was looking.

So even though it was warm outside I put on a hoodie and jeans and tucked left my hair out of its usual ponytail so it could frame my face just in case.

I told Nessa we were going to have to be careful because humans would be frightened if they saw mommy's skin shining like it did and she seemed to understand. I held her hand and we slipped out of the backdoor and into the little patio area.

I didn't hear any of the other residents moving about, it was still quite early, the sun had only just come up. I looked the length of the property, along the back of the six apartments there, of the three on the top floor there was only one light on and that was accompanied by the sound of a shower running. On the bottom floor there was a single light on too, at the far end. I could hear someone moving about, clanking pots and pans in the sink, probably making breakfast.

I held Nessa's hand tightly and walked out from under the awning and we walked as casually as we could right along the fence line until we were at the tree line at the back of the yard. With a quick look back at the apartments – no new lights on and no movement in any of the windows – I tugged Nessa's hand and we began our run.

We ran away from Forks but towards the Rez. When we were a bit deeper into the forest we crossed Emmett's scent. It was fresh too, as though he'd been through that very way only a few hours prior. I guessed he could've been heading to or from the Rez and shrugged it off.

Nessa was very excited though. She chanted 'Unca Emmy' over and over until the scent of the nearby deer drew her attention.

Then she was singly focused on her breakfast and that alone.

I wasn't hungry. After seven months my thirst had finally decided to wane. I could go three days without feeding now and since I'd hunted right before we left Elwha yesterday I was good for a couple more days yet.

So while Nessa expertly dispatched her prey I slouched against a nearby tree and kept watch.

When she was done she ran back to where I stood and reached for my hand. "Can we see daddy now?" She asked.

"Soon sweetheart. He's going to come and collect you tonight and take you to see Nana-Ne." I told her, bringing a huge smile to her little face.

"Can I see Sethy too?" She asked as we began our walk back to the flat.

"I don't know if you'll see Seth tonight little one. How about we go home and call him and see if he wants to come and see your new room?" I asked her.

She stopped stock still and looked up at me with a serious expression on her face. "I don't really want a new room mommy. I want my room at our house."

It broke my heart. I knelt down beside her and took her rosy little cheeks into my hands. "I know sweetheart. I know you liked it there. But you have a new room now and so does mommy. Maybe you can go and stay in your room at the cottage with daddy sometime?"

I didn't want to talk about this with the little girl and I think she realized it because she simply nodded and took my hand again, pulling me along behind her.

When we got to the back of the apartment building we waited until there was no movement to be seen and then we casually walked out of the trees and into the yard as if we'd been for a morning stroll.

When we got safely inside I put Nessa at the little kitchen table with a colouring book and some pencils and then I turned my cell phone on.

Edward's message beeped its presence as soon as it had booted up and I stared at it in bewilderment.

It had hit my inbox at two o'clock in the morning. Had he really been thinking of me at two in the morning or was that just a phrase people used? I knew that at that time I was definitely thinking of him.

I hadn't been able to settle last night. I hated the apartment with a passion. It smelled awful and having humans so close by, sharing common walls, was horrible. They snored and made strange sounds when they slept. They cooked things that smelled disgusting and they had pets that scratched and yelped in the night, not to mention the smells the pets made.

I wasn't much enjoying living in the middle of town either. It had been so peaceful at the cottage, and even at the big house. But here in the backstreets of suburbia all sorts of freaky things happened. The sirens as the ambulances made their way to the hospital had me on edge all night and I was missing the sounds of the forest too.

There were no animals in and around the streets, other than those horrible pets. I was used to birds and deer and the sound of the river. Here I got car horns late night domestic arguments and the only running water sounds I had to soothe me came from the toilet upstairs being flushed!

I was debating whether or not to reply to Edward's text when I decided it might be rude not to. He sent it so late and there was no reason for me not replying at the time, it wasn't as though I'd have been asleep was it? So I opened my message centre and composed my reply.

~I think of you too Edward, all the time. I'll see you at 6. B xx ~

I typed the word love and scrubbed it out four times before I decided to leave it out. Whether or not I loved him wasn't in question, whether I wanted him to know I loved him was.

Once I'd sent it I tried to put it out of my mind and called the Clearwater's. I spoke to Seth and asked if he'd like to come visit us at our new place. He said he'd love to and that he'd get a ride and be there at midday.

Nessa bounced up and down excitedly when I told her she had only two hours to wait until she'd see her Sethy.

I was glad that one of us was happy, at least.

**EPOV**

"If we get caught dipshit she's going to cut off my balls." I told Emmett as we ran towards Perry Street.

He laughed, "Well you've already had as much use out of them as you were going to get, so it shouldn't hurt too bad."

"Oh yeah, good one. So you'd be okay with her reefing your nutsac off with her nails then?" Jasper scoffed.

Emmett cringed and shook his head. "Nah, you're right. We might not need em to reproduce but I'd miss em if I lost them." He agreed and kept running.

We rounded a bend on the track and Emmett held out his arms to either side to slow us down. "It's just through here." He whispered.

We walked slowly towards the edge of the woods at the back of Perry Street until we couldn't go any further. There was a neat row of houses that lined the street and backed onto the forest. Bella's apartment building was three doors down from where we now stood.

"That's her place there." I pointed it out for Jaz who was yet to see it for himself.

"Cosy." He scoffed.

"Yeah, that's what I said when I first saw it. She knew I was lying." I told him.

"You want the good news or the bad news Ed?" Emmett asked and I hoped he was about to get to the point of this little scouting missing he insisted we both come on.

"I don't give a shit, just tell me." I growled as my cell phone beeped in my pocket. I couldn't get to it fast enough, hoping it was word from Bella. It was. She'd been thinking of me too! She was thinking of me but she didn't add the word 'love' to the end of the message. I guessed I deserved it, being denied the words, but it still hurt. I vowed to be patient and closed my phone just as Emmett began his explanation.

"See that place there." He pointed to the place we were right behind. "Guess who lives there?" He asked with a scowl on his face.

I read it in his mind and hissed. "You're fucking kidding me?" I shouted, earning me a slap on the back from Jasper and a kick to the shins from Emmett.

"I'm not shitting you. For Jasper's benefit, that's Newton's new pad. Mommy and daddy bought it for him and he's set up shop there now. He's sharing with that idiot Crowley and another boy, Tommy someone. Probably a meathead from the football team." Emmett tossed his head in the direction of the house and Jasper's eyes grew wide.

"No fucking way." He yelled.

I slapped him; Emmett elbowed him in the ribs.

"Yes way dudes. I saw him coming home last night. He was tanked so he won't be up and about yet I don't think." Emmett confirmed.

"No prizes for guessing whether he came home alone dude." Jasper chuckled.

"Look, he probably doesn't even know Bella's moved in there. And why would he? As far as everyone else is concerned we're married and living at the Cullen place. No reason she'd be anywhere else." I tried to reason with them before they got us in a lot of trouble.

Emmett wasn't buying it. "Okay dude, that's true on one level. On another level this is Newton we're talking about. He might not know she's there yet, but once he does he won't waste any time moving in on our girls."

The way he said 'our girls' made my stomach lurch. It was bad enough thinking about Newton having anything to do with Nessa, even saying hello to the little girl was off limits for that prick, but the idea that he'd see Bella as newly available made my blood boil.

"Well he hasn't seen her yet and he doesn't know she's there. Nothing we can do for now." I told them.

"True. I just wanted to show you just how close he really is to them Ed. You sure you want us to give up on the protection detail?" Emmett asked with a wicked grin.

He knew I'd give in now. I shook my head. "No, suddenly I'm good with the protection detail. I'll take my turn on nights when I'm not supposed to be elsewhere." I agreed, fist bumping them both in turn. "Thanks guys. I appreciate this."

"Thought you might." Emmett grinned.

By five o'clock I was pacing the length of our suite like a madman. Esme had called for me to calm down twice already and Rosie had slammed her bedroom door and stalked out to the garage because she was sick of the sound of my shoes on her ceiling. I couldn't help it.

I'd gotten showered far too early. I'd gotten dressed far too early. Now I was bored and wired and going fucking insane with waiting for the fucking clock to click over.

I went downstairs and fingered the posy of flowers once more making sure they were perfect.

"They're perfect Edward, leave them alone or they'll die before she gets them." Esme admonished from the kitchen.

I huffed and went back to pacing, this time along the length of the living room. I walked from one end of the room to the other, never taking my eyes off Esme's Christmas portrait as it hung on the wall above the fireplace.

Bella looked so beautiful in it. She was pregnant then. So lovely. Her hair was so long and glossy that day. We'd been happy then, before I'd turned into the Abominable Husband as Rosie called me in her head.

Eventually the alarm on my watch sounded and I could finally go and collect Nessa. I shouted my goodbye and ran out the door and into the Guardian. It was going to be one of the last times I drove it so I savoured the drive to Bella's flat.

I circled the block twice to use up some time before parking out the front of the building. I took a deep breath and went and knocked on her door.

She answered it in her bathrobe and she'd never looked more gorgeous.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm only halfway ready, but Nessa is ready to go. She's in her room. Come in, come in." She stammered, pulling my sleeve until I was inside the door.

She closed it behind me and showed me down the little hallway and into Nessa's room.

"Hey baby girl." I called as Nessa lifted her head from inside her book.

"Daddy!" she bellowed, throwing the book to the floor and taking a running leap off the edge of the bed into my arms.

"Nessa." I whispered into her hair. I kissed her rosy cheek and held her tight. "What did I miss today baby girl?" I asked her, sitting down on the edge of her bed and putting her into my lap.

She put her hand to my chin and showed me her day. When her memories began to flood my mind she reached for my hand with her free one and put my thumb into her mouth, biting down softly. I sighed in contentment the instant her little teeth made contact with my flesh.

She showed me images of her and Bella walking carefully out of the yard and going to hunt. Them both creeping back, avoiding the sunlight. Seth's visit. Bella reading to her after her nap this afternoon. Bella singing in the bedroom in the background while Nessa watched television from the armchair in the living room.

"Your Nana-Ne is so looking forward to seeing you little one. She has some pretty new flowers to show you and your Aunty Alice has some new ribbons for your pretty hair." I told her.

"Can I sleep in my room at our house daddy? Mommy says I can if you stay with me." She said earnestly.

"Oh." I didn't know what to say to that. Bella and I hadn't discussed Nessa sleeping over. I didn't want to say yes only to disappoint Nessa later so I told her I'd talk to mommy about that tonight while we were out.

I heard the shower taps being turned on and then the water starting up so I went to the door of the bathroom and told Bella I'd take Nessa to the big house now and I'd be back for her at six-thirty.

She shouted okay to me and I bundled Nessa into the Guardian and took her home.

There was no way to get a word in once Nessa was free of her car seat so I left them to it and headed back to Perry Street.

Newton was getting into his car as I parked in Bella's driveway but I don't think he recognised me. He didn't stop and he didn't look back anyway. His thoughts were solely focused on getting laid; he wasn't interested in what anyone else was doing. Stupid prick.

I took my time going to her door. I'd never been so nervous in all my life. I kept telling myself this was Bella and she loved me like I loved her. That we were already married and that everything would be okay if I just showed her my true self.

I clutched my flower posy tightly and knocked hesitantly at her door.

I could hear her moving about behind the door and her scent was strong as I stood there waiting. I adjusted my tie and straightened my jacket and made sure I was smiling when she pulled the door open for the second time that night.

"Hello Bella, you look lovely." I told her honestly. "These are for you." I pushed the posy towards her and she smiled radiantly at me.

"Thank you Edward, they're lovely." She held the door ajar and I stepped through, past her and into the living room. "I don't think I have a vase here. I'll put some water in the sink." She told me over her shoulder as she made her way to the kitchen.

I wanted to pull her to me desperately. I wanted to kiss her hello. I wanted to rub my hands down her back and feel her shiver. I wanted to feel her teeth in my skin.

Instead I stood quietly at her counter and watched her fiddle with the flowers.

She was wearing a long brown skirt with a short cream blouse. She had flat brown shoes on and a matching purse under her arm. Her hair was loose and she wore minimal make up, because she didn't need it. Her charm bracelet clinked and jangled as she moved but even I noticed the absence of her crest bangle. It was in my jacket pocket. I'd had it on my person since I'd found it abandoned the day she'd left. I couldn't bare that she didn't want to wear it and longed to ask her why.

A quick look at the stack of mail on the kitchen counter told me the answer.

She'd taken the lease as Ms Bella Swan.

**BPOV**

God he looked good. Dark charcoal dress pants with a cream dress shirt and black skinny tie. The jacket was tapered at his waist and was both simple and elegant. His hair was its usual unruly mess and I longed to run my fingers through it.

He smelled divine. Vanilla fresh linen and his soap. He smelled like home.

I busied myself at the sink with the flowers mainly because I was having trouble containing my sobs.

I hated this place. I hated the smells and I hated the noise. But most of all I hated the silence when Nessa wasn't in it. When I'd stepped out of the shower and they'd been gone already it hit me full force just how alone I really was.

I was facing eternity without my mate.

I took a steadying breath and turned to face him, ready for our 'date'.

His face was contorted with pain. His eyes sought mine and I hissed softly. As soon as he heard me make the sound he smoothed out the crease at his brow and smiled widely. "Are you ready to go, love?" He asked, holding out his hand for me.

"Okay." I said tentatively. I grabbed my keys from the counter and saw what he'd been looking at. My mail was still sitting on the counter where I'd left it. It was only a copy of the lease from the agent and some junk mail but I knew why he'd looked so dark just now. My name on the mail was Bella Swan, not Cullen.

That had to hurt.

I hadn't done it to hurt anyone; I'd just wanted to be independent. The Cullen name opened a lot of doors and I didn't want to rely on that.

I took his hand and let him lead me out of the flat. I closed and locked the door behind me and let him help me into the Guardian.

He walked calmly to the driver's side and clicked his seatbelt into place. "Ready?" He asked without meeting my eyes.

"As I'll ever be." I mumbled as the engine roared into life.

When he took the Port Angeles turn off I asked where we were going.

"It's called Wine on the Waterfront. It should be nice." He said as he turned left and headed for the water.

He found a spot quite near to the wine bar but of course neither of us would tire from the walk. He didn't try to hold my hand even though I gave it to him as I exited the car. He walked quite close to my side though, which was nice. Three times on that short walk I had resolved to just turn to him and beg him to let me come home. Three times I stopped myself. Nothing had changed. The lies still stood between us even though it was me who'd told him I didn't care what they were when he'd tried to explain. We weren't any more equal now than we had been a month ago. And so I walked silently beside him, wishing all the while that I could wind back the clock just a few weeks.

I snuck as many glances at him as I could reasonably steal as we sat opposite each other in one of the black leather booths. Edward ordered two glasses of Riesling and I used Alice' trick of tipping it slightly and letting it drip over the edge of the glass and soak into the napkin to help the charade along.

His scent was maddening in the crowded room. I was still assaulted by it even though there was easily a hundred humans all bumping into each other as they sat and stood to drink.

They were all shouting to be heard by their lovers and friends but Edward and I didn't need to do that. We carried on a normal conversation without issue. Our hearing made it easy to pick out the words of the other even if we were both avoiding the one topic we should've been discussing.

Edward kept his hands above the table, his beautiful pianists fingers laced around the stem of his wine glass as we spoke. My eyes were drawn to them over and over as he twisted the glass around and around on its base.

"How do you like the apartment?" He asked.

I couldn't tell him I hated it as much as I did but I didn't want to lie either. "I'd forgotten just how strange humans are." I laughed lightly knowing nobody would hear me in the din anyway.

He laughed too. "I suppose they are. All that eating and sleeping. It has always seemed such a waste to me, to lose all those hours."

I huffed at that. What I wouldn't give to be able to sleep, to just close my eyes and awaken twelve hours later and have been able to put my misery out of mind for all those hours. "But you have something to amuse you for those hours. I haven't found that thing yet."

"What is it you think I've been filling my time with then?" he smirked.

I smiled grimly thinking of all the things I'd rather be doing during my own wretched evenings. "I assumed you were playing."

"I'm not. My muse is gone." He said darkly, putting his glass to his lips. "I thought you'd be snapping away with your camera by day and editing and printing by night?" he asked casually.

I wanted to be as glib as he'd been and admit that there was no joy in taking pictures of Nessa on her own. Without him to share them with they felt empty and worthless. "I don't feel much like it yet." I said instead.

I didn't want to spend the evening avoiding the elephant in the room but neither did I want to actually discuss it. It seemed he didn't either.

"Have you given any thought to college?" He asked out of the blue.

I hadn't given it any thought and said so. "I wouldn't know what to do with Nessa anyway. I don't want to leave her during my days when she sleeps all night."

He nodded in agreement. "I can see that, yes. Maybe later then? When she's a little bigger, maybe you can go then?" He posed it as a question but didn't look as though he was waiting for an answer.

"What about you? What are you planning for yourself?" I asked, trying to get the focus away from me. I didn't want to admit that I had no plans because I was heartbroken.

He startled me by letting his wine glass go and reaching across the table to take my hand into his. The tingle shot up my arm and settled in my chest. He rolled my wedding rings around my finger and smiled, "I have no plans. For now I am just Nessa's daddy."

He let my hand go and sat back against the back of the booth. I was disappointed. I was sure he was going to say that he planned to get me back. "You're a good father Edward." I told him honestly.

He laughed darkly and ran his hand through his hair. "A good dad but a shit husband." He muttered to himself. He knew I could hear him but he said it anyway. I was about to protest when he shook his head. "No need to say anything." He said pointedly and nodded at me.

**EPOV**

I didn't want to bring the mood of the evening down so I changed the subject yet again.

"What are you planning for tomorrow?" I asked.

"I don't think I have any plans. Nessa will want to see you and Seth at some point but other than that nothing." She said quietly.

"Good. I thought I might take Nessa to the big house to swim. None of us have been in the pool as yet and she loves the water so much. What do you think? Would she like that?" I asked.

Bella frowned. "Sure, she'd love that. That's a great idea." She hung her head and for the life of me I couldn't work out why.

"Hey, if you'd rather she didn't come that's okay too. I'll fit in with your plans Bella." I told her.

"No, no. You should take her swimming. She loves that." She said quickly, nodding her head to punctuate her point.

"Good, I'll collect her early." I kept a close watch on her facial expression as I said it, noting that she sucked in a deep breath when I'd finished. She was disappointed.

I had no intention of leaving her out of the day; I wanted her to come too. But I wasn't about to admit that and I wasn't going to ask her now. I wanted her to really want to come along. I'd let her stew on it for the night and ask tomorrow when I went to collect Nessa.

We talked for a little while about the family and how Rose was going at the garage. We talked about Emmett's plan to open a construction company and Carlisle's continued interest in the blood study even though Nessa no longer needed the pouches for herself. We spoke briefly about Charlie and Renee and about the opening of the daycare centre set for the following week.

"Her first day of opening is the 19th and she's booked solid already." I told her.

"She's worked hard, she deserves for it to go well." She agreed. Without warning Bella's face clouded over and she ducked her face down to her chest so I couldn't see her eyes. I reached across the table, to grab for her hand to ask what was wrong but she tore her hand off the table and plunged it into her lap. "Excuse me." She mumbled and sprang from the booth and almost ran for the ladies room.

I sat there stunned. Whatever it was that had upset her had come upon her very quickly. I went back over our conversation to try to find it but everything seemed harmless to me.

I was considering what to do when my cell rang. A human wouldn't have been able to hear it ringing let alone carry on a conversation in the din in the bar, but for me it was as though I was standing in the middle of a desert.

"What is it Alice?" I asked when I answered it.

"She's sobbing in a toilet stall because the 20th is your birthday Edward. She thinks you're both going to be alone that day. She's miserable. She hates the apartment. She's lonely and she wants to come home but she's too proud to admit it. I know you have a plan but she's very unhappy, please be careful." Alice was tripping over her words in order to get them all out before I told her to butt out. But, for once, I was grateful for her insight.

"This is so hard, not being able to read her. I've never dated anyone, much less my own wife." I stuttered, completely unsure how to proceed. "Thanks for telling me Ally, is Nessa asleep already?" I asked.

"Yes, she is, but what's that got to do with anyth...oh...good idea..." And then she hung up.

I couldn't help but laugh. I wanted to use Nessa being asleep as an excuse to bring Bella to the big house to stay tonight. I would be the perfect gentleman, of course. But Bella was too proud to tell me she was lonely so I'd have to help her along a little. Unfortunately at the exact moment my mirth spilled forth Bella returned to the table.

She stood at the edge of the bench seat and stared down at me with sad eyes. I could see the exact instant her sadness turned to anger. She flared her nostrils and pursed her lips. She snatched her purse up off the seat and turned on her heel and headed for the door.

"Shit." I muttered. I threw a few bills down on the table for our server and ran out into the night after her. "Bella! Wait!" I called to her as she walked quickly along the sidewalk in the opposite direction to where I'd parked the car. "Wait. Let me explain, please." I begged as I quickened my pace and drew beside her.

"Go away Edward." She hissed, quickening and pulling slightly ahead of me.

I reached forward and slipped my hand under her elbow, closing my fingers softly around her arm and pulling her to a slow stop. I held her while I walked around in front of her. I expected to encounter the rage I usually did when we were like this, but instead all I saw was a broken girl. "Oh Bella, come here, love." She didn't fight me as I pulled her to my chest. It was involuntary, the breath I drew in from her hair. My lungs might not need oxygen but my heart needed her scent. I held her for a long minute and ran my hands up and down the outside of her arms. When she stopped trembling a little I drew away slightly and looked down into her eyes. Alice was right, Bella had a good grip on her mask but I could see that Alice was right. Bella was as miserable as I was. "Please tell me why you left just now."

She sighed and closed her eyes for a second. "Because you're so happy without me and I'm so unhappy without you." She sobbed.

That shook me. I felt my knees buckle slightly but I held on as best I could. "And that is the heart of our problems, sweetheart. We look but don't see. We hear but don't listen. I lie and you don't ask." I kissed the top of her head and squeezed her one last time. "Come on, I'll take you home."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you are enjoying the story. If you aren't and can't abide my writing style please review all the same. **


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26 – Name Your Prize

26.

**BPOV**

He was so gentle with me that night. He put me into the Guardian and drove me home with his hand on top of mine across the console. We drove in complete silence.

When we reached my wretched home he helped me out of the car and walked me inside. He sat me on the end of my bed and took my shoes from my feet. He pulled my shirt off over my head and tugged my skirt down over my hips. He pulled the blankets back on my cold and lonely bed and then he laid me in it. He pulled the blankets to my chin, kissed me lightly on the forehead, told me he loved me and that he'd bring Nessa home at first light.

"I'm taking the Guardian now, but I'll bring it back tomorrow. You keep it; it's safer for Nessa anyway. If you'll let me I'll donate the Taurus to your mothers daycare centre."

He didn't wait for me to protest or to agree, he simply turned the light off and left.

I waited until I heard the Guardian pull out into the street before I let my sobs out.

**EPOV**

I drove out of her driveway and turned left into the street. I drove four doors down and pulled over onto the curb, cut the engine and put my head in my hands.

"How the fuck has it come to this?" I muttered.

I had planned a nice evening. We'd talk. We'd laugh a little if I could pull it off. We'd walk along the water for a bit, maybe hold hands. I'd ask her to please stay with us, at the big house – she could have our suite I'd stay in the guest room – because I didn't want to have to take Nessa out of her warm bed in the middle of the night. She'd agree, I'd kiss her softly on the lips at the suite door and then I'd leave her to think about it all for the night.

Instead she'd seen me laughing and assumed I was happy! Of all the fucking idiotic concepts she chooses that one to latch onto! How could she believe I was happy? I was utterly miserable, just like her. But I knew why she thought that, because I'd made her believe it. I'd lied to her, again. Oh I'd not lied in words, I hadn't actually told her I was happy, I just hadn't told her that I wasn't. Instead I'd been all smiles and gentle words. I'd been relaxed on the outside and had seethed with longing on the inside.

And now she was lying in that awful place all alone and sobbing. I could hear her as clearly as if I was right there in the room with her. She was calling for me, crying out in her pain. And there was nothing I could do about it.

I couldn't go back there but I couldn't leave either.

So I took the car home and told Carlisle where I'd be in case Nessa woke asking for me and then I ran back to Perry Street.

I found Rosie sitting at the foot of a tree and I told her to go home, that I'd finish her shift. She said nothing, I think the look on my face said it all. She kissed me on the cheek and then she ran home.

I crouched in the trees at the back of her apartment and I listened to her cry all night long. And when I couldn't handle it anymore I cried right along with her.

I wasn't happy.

**BPOV**

I was determined to be up and dressed by the time Edward bought Nessa home in the morning. So I dragged my sorry ass out of the bed and into the shower at first light. I washed my hair and dried it with the pathetic excuse for a hairdryer I'd bought at the grocery store.

I dressed in jeans and when it came to choosing a shirt I plucked the cream blouse I'd had on the night before off the floor and put it on. It had Edward's scent on it since he'd hugged me so tightly in the street. I inhaled it and closed my eyes to savour the delicious scent. I put some lip gloss on and I kissed my locket as I'd taken to doing every chance I got.

I made the bed and tidied my room. I emptied the kitchen sink and arranged the flowers Edward had bought me in a mug. I put them on the edge of the counter and sniffed them long and hard. They were gorgeous. He was gorgeous.

But he was happy and I was miserable.

My cell phone ringing made me jump. It was still in my purse so I had to hurry to catch it before they hung up. It was Alice.

"Hey Alice." I said cautiously. I hadn't really spoken to her at all since I'd left two weeks ago. I still wasn't sure what sort of reception I should be expecting from her.

"Hi Bella. Nessa's up and thirsty. I just wanted to check that it's okay if she comes hunting with us before Edward brings her home?" She asked brightly.

What was with all the happy Cullen's?

"Um, sure, I guess. Oh, but don't let her run off, she'll streak ahead and you'll lose her. She won't get lost though, she can find her way, but please watch her when she's running. She forgets what she's doing because she likes to run just for fun. Oh and she likes deer, but she can't handle big ones. She only needs one, a little one. Don't let her talk you into letting her go after bobcats. And she'll need a bath afterwards, she's not too neat yet." I told her as though Alice had no idea how to hunt herself. "Sorry." I mumbled.

"Don't be." She said softly. "Listen, you're her mother, you told me once that trumps aunt, I've not forgotten. I've gotta go, she's thirsty. Talk to you later, luv ya." And then she hung up.

I stood staring at my cell phone for a few minutes. What the hell was going on over there? A few weeks ago I'd had to have words with Alice for interfering now all of a sudden she's so standoff-ish we haven't even talked about why I left.

Something wasn't right in Dodge.

**EPOV**

"Are you coming?" I asked Esme. "You don't want to miss this."

She shook her head. "Another time, it's my turn on watch." She said. "You be a good girl for your daddy and I'll see you later today when you come for your swim."

With a last look at me then one more smile for Nessa she ran out the front door.

_'Just because Renesmee is here doesn't mean Bella should be forgotten.'_ Esme hissed in her thoughts as she ran down the driveway.

I didn't want her forgotten either. I was pissed that Esme thought I would.

"Come on daddy." Nessa was tugging my hand.

"Let's go little one. I'll race you to the river." I let her hand go and watched her run for a few strides before I took off after her.

Bella was right, she could run like the wind when she wanted to. Alice told me all about Bella's instructions and at the time it had pissed me off, being told how to go hunting with my own daughter, but I could see now how easy it would be to lose the little girl as she ran ahead. The time in the National Park when I'd watched her hunt had only been her second or third time and she'd been nervous and unsteady. She'd had more practise now and I was eager to see how she'd progressed.

Emmett and Rose were waiting for her at the jetty, Alice and Jasper were running along with me. When Nessa came to the jetty she veered left and kept right on running, regardless of us shouting to her to hold up.

It became a game in the end. The louder we shouted the faster she ran. We never let her ahead so far that we couldn't see her, and of course I could've caught her in a heartbeat, but she loved to run so we let her.

_'Can I go for a bobcat daddy?'_ Nessa asked silently when we came to our hunting grounds.

"No Nessa, no big cats yet. You go for the little deer, like mommy taught you." I told her sternly.

She pouted over her shoulder at me but took off through the trees none the less. I held my arms out to the sides to stop the others from going ahead of me and I motioned towards the trees. The five of us walked slowly into them and leapt onto a pair of low lying branches to watch.

The deer hadn't yet smelled her approach so they were head down in the long grass munching happily.

As she had the first time I'd watched she slipped into a miniature version of her mother's crouch and slunk along the edge of the trees until she was close enough to pounce. She looked left and right twice before chanting her rules to herself silently. 'Be quick, be strong, be quiet.'

I listened to her thoughts as she isolated which of the deer she had targeted. She never took her eyes from it and even though it was more than twice her size and probably five times her body weight when she pounced her sheer strength made it crash to the ground with a sickening thud.

She used her elbow and knee to hold it still and then she snapped its neck cleanly and expertly. Within seconds she was sat beside it, pulling it to her lap as Bella always did. Again the crushing weight of my longing for her mother hit me full on in the gut as I watched our daughter use the same techniques to feed.

The same tiny little hiss escaped her rosebud lips as she parted them over her fingers, pinched across the unfortunate beasts jugular. She slurped hungrily at the wounds she'd made and when the blood began to flow freely she sucked harder. She made the same low purring sound that Bella made as she fed.

I looked across at my sisters who were dumbstruck with sick fascination as they watched the scene below. Emmett's mouth was actually agape and Jasper had his head cocked to the side in interest.

Their thoughts were a mixture of awe and repulsion, as though none of them could quite believe what they were seeing.

As the flow of blood began to wane Renesmee sighed against the deer's skin and shifted her weight under it. She stood, swiped her hand across her mouth and began to drag the carcass towards the bushes. Emmett made to jump down to help her but I put a hand across his chest. "Let her do it." I told him.

She shoved the body under the bushes and danced back towards where the five of us were perched. She didn't search for us because she knew exactly where we were through scent alone. "Come down daddy, I'm not allowed up trees." She stood with her hands on her hips just like her mother would.

I wondered why she wasn't allowed up trees but allowed to tackle deer and searched her thoughts for the answer but heard nothing about it. I jumped down from the tree and scooped her up into my arms. "Why aren't you allowed up trees munchkin?" I asked.

"Mommy said because sometimes hungry bobcats sit in trees waiting for little girls." She said matter of factly, making both Emmett and Jasper chuckle. "Mommy says I smell good to them." She put her arm to her nose and sniffed. She shrugged but said nothing more.

"She's very clever your mommy." Rosie called from her perch.

They were all thinking it, all imagining Nessa sitting in a tree innocently and a bobcat picking her off. Bella was bloody smart. A lot smarter than me, that's for sure. For all my hundred or so years Bella had me hands down.

I kissed Nessa's rosy cheek and slung her over my back and up onto my shoulders. I reached upwards and gave her my hands to hold. "Right. You lead." I told her.

The others jumped from the tree and with four slight thuds joined us on the path.

Nessa waited until they were all ready and then she shook my hands, "Giddy up horsey." She trilled.

I began to run quite slowly, the others jogging at my flanks. They were all deep in thought. The girls were worried they'd miss so much more if Bella didn't come home soon. The boys were thinking how utterly ridiculous I looked playing this game, but were deeply envious all the same.

"Faster stupid horsey." Nessa giggled as she kicked me in the pectorals with her heels.

**BPOV**

It was now eight thirty and he wasn't here.

The sun had been up for an hour and he said he'd bring her back at first light.

I'd cleaned and dusted and arranged the flowers over and over while I waited. I'd unpacked a couple of boxes and had set up the printer and my laptop at one end of the little kitchen table. I'd put a load of washing in to wash and I'd wiped down the benches a dozen times but still he didn't appear.

I was about to text him when I heard the Guardian in the driveway. I flew out the front door and went to the side door of the car and peered in. Nessa was in her little car seat right where she should be. I sighed in relief and it didn't go unnoticed by Edward who was extracting himself from the driver's seat.

"What? You thought I'd run off with her?" He chuckled.

All I could do was shrug. It was exactly what I'd been thinking but I had no right to say it seeing as it was exactly what I'd done to him. I could only imagine the agony he'd gone through until he knew she was safe.

I unclipped her and took her inside. She had already put her hand to my cheek to show me what I'd missed the night before, and that morning.

I sat with her on the sofa and let her memories play out for me. I laughed in all the right places and I sighed in all the right places but inside I was dying.

It was the pictures of the happy family that I couldn't handle. The way they all laughed and played together. I looked over at Edward who was standing by the doorway watching us. He looked tired and drawn. I expected to see the happy man I'd seen last night but I didn't.

When Nessa was finished show and tell she ran off to her room to put Frank on her bed and to play with her toys.

"Come in Edward, you don't need to stand at the door." I told him as I went into the kitchen.

"Thanks." He said quietly. He ran a hand through his hair and came to stand at the counter.

I leaned against the sink and he leaned against the bench top. "It looks like you guys had fun?" I asked.

"We did. I think she shocked them when she hunted." He laughed softly. "I can't say I'm used to watching it yet."

"It still gets me too, she's so little, you know?" I agreed. "So do you want me to put her swimming things in her bag? You still want to take her swimming?"

"Come with us." He rasped, closing his eyes at the end of the request.

I pulled my lip between my teeth and bit down to stop me from leaping over the counter and ravaging him. By the time he opened his eyes I'd steadied a little and could afford to offer him a smile. "I can't face them, Edward." I told him honestly.

He didn't leap the counter but he did come around it. He put his hands on my shoulders and held me firmly. "Bella, they love you. You're their sister, their daughter and as much as you don't want to be right now, you're a Cullen too. Come and spend some time with us." He pled.

I wasn't prepared for him to be so understanding, again. I knew his rage, his belligerence, his anger and his stubbornness. Understanding wasn't in Edward's normal nature. I looked up at him and stared into his eyes. I couldn't interpret what he was feeling because the Edward who stood in front of me wasn't an Edward I'd ever met before.

"Okay." I whispered. I didn't want to see the others but I didn't want to have to spend the rest of the day in the apartment alone either.

"Good. So go and get your things, I'll sort Nessa out." He strode down the hallway and just before he got to her door he turned and looked back to where I was standing, then he strode right back to the counter and took up the position he'd had before. "Sorry. This is your house. I shouldn't assume. If it's okay I'd like to get Nessa ready for swimming?" He asked.

I smiled. "It's okay Edward." I nodded and he went back down the hall to Nessa.

"Daddy come and see the old green grasshopper." She called as he went inside her room. She'd taken a liking to Roald Dahl books the past few days and they spent a little time reading a few pages before Edward told her to point out her swimming things for him in her dresser.

I was torn. I wanted so badly to swim with them both. I wanted to be happy with him again and I wanted desperately to see him happy again, but I didn't want to face his siblings. They'd greeted me easily enough that first day I'd returned to Forks, but since then we'd had no contact at all.

I was sure that Alice had an opinion and she'd be more than willing to share it with me the first chance she got. Emmett would be forgiving but would be hurt and angry with me and he wouldn't be afraid to tell me off. Jasper wouldn't be so forgiving, I predicted. He'd be hurt on his own account and doubly so for Alice'. He'd be having a hard time with Edward's emotional state and now that Edward seemed to be living at the big house Jasper would have no relief from it.

Rose would be interesting. She'd either attempt to flay me alive or she'd ignore me totally. Neither was a good outcome for me.

Esme would pretend nothing had happened but underneath she'd be hurting, bad. She wouldn't pick a side but she'd let me know, not through words though, how disappointed she was in me and my behaviour.

Carlisle would want me to go into his study with him and he'd want to lecture me. He'd tell me how important it was that we stick together, how as head of _my _coven he had a responsibility to look out for me and he couldn't do that if I lived apart from them. He'd tell me how heartbroken Esme was and that I should give Edward a chance.

It was all true. Each and every one of their reactions and opinions was valid and I deserved everything they were about to throw at me. The question was, was I able to take it from them?

It was inevitable. I'd have to face them at some point; it may as well be today in one big group as well as singly tomorrow or the next day.

With my mind made up, sort of, I went down the hall to my awful bedroom and closed the door. I stripped out of my clothes and pulled on a navy one piece bathing suit then put my clothes back on over the top.

I went into the hall and took some towels out of the closet and put them on the sofa in the living room.

Then I went back down to Nessa's room to make sure everything she would need was in her bag.

I found them both sitting on the floor, leaning back on the edge of her bed. Nessa held the book but Edward read from it. He stopped when I came in and folded the book closed. "All ready?" I asked before I changed my mind and cried off.

"All ready aren't we little one?" Edward looked to Nessa who was nodding. He leapt to his feet and pulled Nessa up so she was sitting on his hip. He dug his keys out of his jeans pocket and tossed them to me. "Let's go girls." And with that he went through the living room and out through the front door and was waiting at the backdoor of the Guardian by the time I collected the towels and my keys.

I pushed the central locking button and he put Nessa into her car seat while I stowed her bag and the towels in the trunk. I went around to the passenger side and waited for Edward to be ready to drive.

"Nope." He said nodding towards the other side of the car. "This is yours now Bella, you drive." And with that he slid into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut.

**EPOV**

I knew she was being dragged through the wringer by my mood but I had to stick to my plan. This was what I wanted, this was who I wanted to be. I wanted to be the Edward Cullen she needed me to be. So that was who I was being.

A proper husband, a proper mate, a proper father and a proper man.

I could control myself around her, for a little longer anyway, and I could be open and honest and caring and fun and all the things I should've been all along.

I could also be practical and helpful and I was fairly sure I could make her need me as much as I needed her. Not in a sexual or affectionate way either. But really need me. To help her. To do things for her and with her. I wanted to participate in her life and I'd been an idiot for excluding her from mine.

Very soon I was going to have to actually tell her all this, but for now it was enough that I thought it.

I had this chance today to bring her to our home and spend some quality time with both her and our daughter and show her I could be all those things.

I'd talked to the family and they'd agreed that they would be perfectly normal around her. No recriminations, no acrimony and definitely no mention of the fact that she'd left me. As far as the family was concerned we were one big happy family and Bella just needed a little break from the stresses of what was looming over our heads. Okay, she didn't know what that was yet, but she knew something was. And for now that was what I had to work with. She wouldn't let me explain, she wasn't ready for that yet. So I would do what I pledged that I would.

I would win back my family so I had one to protect when those fuckers from the north decided to try to take them from me.

All this I reconfirmed in my head as she drove us to the house.

To say it was a silent drive would've been a lie. Nessa sang, loudly and badly the whole way and Bella giggled almost the whole way.

I'd set my mind to what I had to achieve. Nessa was happy and singing, Bella was laughing and apart from the raging erection I was trying to hide in my jeans, it was the most amazing drive I'd ever had.

When Bella pulled up in the driveway I gave her a moment, knowing she'd need one to steady herself for what she was probably thinking was going to be the onslaught of a very unhappy family.

I unbuckled Nessa and held her at my hip. "Come on love, they won't bite." I laughed. Vampire joke, never funny, apparently. Well, if the scowl Bella threw me was anything to go by those jokes weren't _ever_ going to be funny for her. Sheesh, tough crowd.

I stood at her door and held my hand out and waited until she put hers into mine. The sting of her touch made me twitch all over again but I had Nessa on my side so I willed my desire away in time for us to get through the front door.

Esme came from the kitchen and after a pleasant hello to Bella she dived on Nessa, as usual. Soon they were laughing and giggling and gossiping about what the day was to hold. Bella stood in the foyer looking around as though something had changed. Nothing had. It was all exactly as it had been.

I held my hand out for her once again and when she took it I led her out the backdoor, down the deck stairs, across the lawn and into the pool house. Esme was already there, tugging Nessa's dress off over her head to reveal the tiny pink swimmers I'd dressed her in prior.

I dropped Bella's towels into a chair at the edge of the pool and pulled my own shirt off over my head. She gasped when she saw that I had her t-shirt on under my own. "Your scent." I shrugged and left it at that. I pulled my jeans off and stood in just my boxers. I couldn't care less what I swam in.

Esme was at the other end of the pool with Nessa in her arms preparing to get in. She walked slowly down the steps inside the pool and Nessa began to squeal in delight as the warm water lapped at her legs and belly the further into it Esme went.

Bella was looking from Nessa to me and back again over and over. I smiled to myself. I knew how she felt. It had always been a tug for me, whether to want Bella or be with Nessa. The pull they both held for me was equal, but different. If I didn't get below the water soon the type of need I had for Bella would be more than apparent in my thin shorts so I took the two steps between the chairs and the water and threw myself in with a huge splash.

I swam to the end of the pool where Esme was and I came up, spluttering on purpose, right in front of Nessa who clapped and giggled and reached for me.

I put her onto my back, as I always did when we swam, and waited for her to hook her little fingers around my neck. When she was settled I dived under the water and swam us back to where Bella was sitting on the edge, her feet dangling in the water.

Nessa came up giggling and splashed Bella thoroughly.

"Oh you little devil." Bella played along happily.

"Swim with me mommy." As Nessa let go of my neck and reached for Bella I felt her slipping sideways off my back.

I heard Bella's gasp but I was already reaching for Nessa. So when Bella dived in I too was under the water. Nessa was already at the surface, well able to swim by herself, but Bella and I were both submerged.

Her suit looked silver as the water beaded on it. It shimmered in the overhead light and I felt the familiar clench of my balls as my desire for her built. I used every ounce of strength I had and pushed off using my feet and burst free of the surface as fast as I could.

Nessa was bobbing beside me, waiting for me to come up so we could resume our game.

By the time Bella re-emerged from under the water Nessa and I were already stroking back to the far end of the pool towards Esme.

I'd have to be very, very careful today. My resistance was nil.

**BPOV**

I'd done a lot of dumb things in my time. Some would argue that falling in love with a perpetually horny teenaged vampire was a doozy, but I'd argue that today's decision to swim with him had to rank right up there with the dumbest of them.

Edward half naked in boxer shorts was sublime in the extreme. A half naked Edward in boxer shorts soaking wet with his hair swimming about his face like a halo was another thing entirely.

I ached from head to toe and some of the places in between ached especially wickedly.

I watched them swim away from me and I silently cursed myself for coming along.

The silent hell that was the apartment was better than this torture. I might be miserable and lonely there but I wasn't in constant danger of succumbing to the power of my desire either.

Edward was splashing both Esme and Nessa at the far end of the pool when the others joined us.

I steeled myself for the lectures, the hurt feelings and the sad faces but got none of those. Instead they came in all smiles and laughter. They shouted hello to me, but other than that it was business as usual, Cullen style.

Of course Emmett wasted no time bombing himself into the deep end and totally soaking both Alice and Rose before they had a chance to divest themselves of their clothes. Loud protestations were had and just as they were forgiving Emmett his childish indulgence Jasper did the same thing and soaked them all over again.

After that it was like Wrestlemania in the pool house.

Jasper threw Alice in, Emmett threw Rosalie in. The two girls were soon perched on the boys shoulders and a war was begun. I was hanging off the side of the pool watching happily when Edward swam up beside me. "Come on." He nodded towards the water war and threw me a heart stopping smirk.

I couldn't help but smile. He took that as permission and he sunk beneath the water and came up between my legs. I slid back onto his shoulders and he held onto my ankles as he made his way into the centre of the battle.

"Make way for Bella the Brutal." He bellowed as he led us into the thick of it.

Alice was the first to kick out at us and drenched me with water that came off her feet. Rose wasn't backward in coming forward and she egged Emmett on to get in closer so she too could have a turn to splash at me.

I fought back, of course, and pretty soon the six of us were shouting and yelling our battle cries and trying our damnedest to push our opponents of their knight's shoulders.

I came off twice and Rose twice too, but Alice stayed put. She might be small but god she was tough. She clung like white on rice to Jasper's shoulders, no amount of pushing or pulling could dislodge her and eventually the four of us had to concede and declare Jaz and Alice the winners.

Alice swam to shallow water and began her winners speech while Nessa clapped and cheered at the far end.

I swam back to her and scooped Nessa up, tossing her high into the air and letting her dive down under the surface then repeating it all again as we played.

Edward came to swim by us and he took a turn to toss her into the air. Pretty soon we were one for one, he'd catch her when I threw her and vice versa. She squealed and laughed and swam between us for ages.

I'd never been so deliciously happy.

**EPOV**

I'd never been so fucking miserable in all my life.

The more my girls laughed the more my longing crept over me. Being with them like this, as they played in the water, was torture because I knew they would soon leave me here again.

I wanted to enjoy it while I had it, but it was hard to.

I'd enjoyed the game with my siblings very much, and I knew Bella had too. It was so good to have a legitimate reason to be touching her again. I never wanted it to end, never wanted to let her slip off my shoulders. When she did I felt the loss acutely.

When Nessa's thoughts began to wane I let told Bella the little girl was tiring but it was Rosie who asked if she could take Nessa inside for a bath. Bella said of course she could and we watched as the tired little bundle was wrapped in a towel and marched inside by her aunt.

Emmett got out of the water and decided he'd go and assist. Alice and Jasper just got out and left, no reason given and we didn't ask for one.

Esme excused herself and said she had chores to do inside.

That left Bella and I wading in the shallow end of the pool on our own.

For once I had no plan. I didn't know what to say and I didn't know what to do. Well, I knew what I wanted to do but that wasn't possible.

"I'll race you." Bella challenged me out of the blue. "Five laps, first one back here has to answer a question from the other."

"Done." I said without hesitation.

"Ready, go." And she was gone, under the water and kicking for all she was worth.

I was right behind her. I was determined to win this, I had questions that needed answers.

But fuck she was fast!

By the third lap she had half a body length on me and I was having trouble keeping that distance to a minimum. By the fourth lap she'd opened the lead up to a full body length and I knew I was done for.

She was waiting for me, lounging back on the edge of the pool when I finished my fifth lap. She was smiling smugly and I didn't blame her.

I stood beside her, reached for her hand and pressed my lips to it. "Well done Mrs Cullen. You beat me fair and square. Name your prize." I said regally.

I didn't imagine her flinch when I said her name that way but ignored it because I didn't know what it meant, if anything. I kept her hand in mine and waited for her to form her question.

"You have to be honest, right?" She asked cautiously and I nodded my agreement. "Good. So, I won, so I get to ask a question. My question is this. Which of us are they coming for? Me, Nessa, you?" She asked with a straight face.

I knew she saw me gulp. "Nessa and Seth." I said firmly. The time for lies was long since past.

Her face crumpled with the knowledge and I did my best to steady her while she took it in. I still had her hand in mine and it was trembling solidly now. I put my other hand on the small of her back and held her upright while she gathered herself.

"Do we need to race again so I get another question?" She asked me quietly.

"No Bella. I'm done with lying. Ask and I'll tell you the truth." I wanted to just tell her it all, get it all out in the open but this was her show now, she set the rules. I'd already failed, now I had to play the game the way she wanted to play it.

"Do you want a divorce?" She asked.

"God no." I yelled, startling her. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself a little before I spoke again. I tightened my grip on her back and looked her in the eye. "No Bella. I don't want a divorce, never. Not ever."

I couldn't bring myself to ask if she did.

"Ask me something." She pled.

She turned slightly so she was facing me and I let the hand I'd had on her back come around to cup her hip. She was so lovely, so perfect. I ached for wanting her. I wanted to ask so many things, needed to know so many things. But for now there was one thing I needed to know most. "Are you mine Isabella?"

She closed her eyes and squeezed my hand. "I want to be." She whispered.

* * *

**A/N: Baby steps, that's what it's going to take. If you have enjoyed something in this chapter please review and let me know. If you disliked it, please review and let me know that too. **


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – Stupid Brothers

27.

**BPOV**

I wanted him to kiss me but he didn't. He held onto my hip and my hand and just stared at me for the longest time.

"Come on, let's get you dry." He said and then he leapt up onto the side of the pool and held a hand out for me.

We went into the house and Edward said I could have the bathroom in our suite, he'd shower in Emmett's room.

It was strange to be in this shower again. So much had happened in here. We'd made love here countless times. In the room itself we'd lost our virginity, declared our love for the first time, and conceived Nessa. It felt so familiar, so much like home. I dreaded having to go back to the apartment after having been here.

I let the warm water rush over me. I washed my hair with his shampoo and rubbed his soap into my aching skin. The longer the familiar smells of Edward lasted the better I'd feel.

I leaned against the cold tiled wall and closed my eyes, remembering the way he'd touched me in here. I was so relieved he didn't want to divorce. I had to cling to that. When he'd asked me if I was still his I'd almost launched myself at him. I'd held back because nothing had really changed. Our situation was still the same as it had been. He was a liar, albeit an attractive one, and I still had very few answers.

I might now know who was being hunted, and while the knowledge frightened me beyond all reason I knew that when it came right down to it we'd all work as one to make sure both Nessa and Seth were safe. I didn't need to be married to Edward, or even living with him or the family, to know that was true.

I tried to put the new knowledge out of my mind for now. I was sure that the long nights would give me plenty of time to dwell on it. For now I wanted to lap up Edward's scent while I could.

It was so strong in here. It was on the towels, it clung to the walls and it was still in the air from the last time he'd used the shower himself.

I ran my hand over the tiles and imagined it was his skin. My tattoo began to tickle immediately as I remembered the feel of him. Venom flooded my mouth and arousal flooded out of my centre. That's when I heard him.

_'Mmm...mmm' _It was such a feint sound but I knew it was Edward. He was right below where I stood, in Emmett's shower stall. He moaned again and I felt the familiar sting of worry as I wondered what could be wrong. _'Bella'_ he sighed and my stomach tightened with desire.

He wasn't hurt, he wasn't in trouble. He was aroused. He was an idiot to be doing what he was obviously doing with the whole family in the house, they'd hear him for sure. Maybe he didn't care? The Edward I knew would've cared.

I put my ear to the tiles and listened carefully. I couldn't hear anything but now that I knew what he was doing I couldn't put it out of my mind. I could picture it, I could smell it, and I could feel it.

I gave it half a seconds thought and then I let my hand trail down between my breasts and slowly lower until I had my clit between my thumb and forefinger. I needed the release like humans needed oxygen.

I needed Edward.

**EPOV**

I hadn't intended to jack off in a house full of vampires who'd hear me but I couldn't help it. There was no way I'd get through the rest of the day with Bella so near if I didn't relieve the tension now.

I'd been hard for hours in the pool and the ache in my balls was becoming painful.

So I took my chance where I found it. I stood below her, one floor down, and I put my cock into my hand. I thought about how that swimsuit hugged her delicious curves. I imagined how it would've felt to have her against the edge of the pool. I let my mind wander back to the last time I'd had her, after sharing the hunt behind the cottage.

It wouldn't take me long to find the release I was looking for and by the time it began to build in my gut I couldn't have cared less who was able to hear me. When the moan made its way out of my throat I closed my eyes and imagined it was Bella's moan as I pleasured her. My balls clenched at that and I whispered her name as I came all over my hand and stomach.

It wasn't wholly satisfying but it was a release none the less.

I stood, head leaning up against the tiles, and let the last waves of pleasure roll through me. That's when I heard her.

_'Ahh...mmm...Edward...'_ The sound was so tiny I thought I'd imagined it at first.

But when I heard it again I knew she was pleasuring herself just as I had done. She was whispering my name so softly I doubted anyone else could've heard it but me. I pressed my ear closer to the wall hoping it would magnify the sound but it didn't.

I wanted to run up there and see. I wanted to fly up the stairs and burst in on her and beg her to have me. I wanted to be the one giving her the climax she was now panting through.

Instead I stood in my brothers shower and mourned the loss of my right to it.

When she turned the water off in our shower I turned it off in Emmett's.

I dressed in clean boxers and jeans but didn't put on a shirt. I wanted hers and I wasn't ashamed to ask her for it. So when I'd dried my hair as best I could I scooped up my dirty clothes and made my way up to our suite.

She was perched on the end of the sofa, her wet hair wrapped in a towel.

I knocked even though she knew I was there. She giggled, "You don't have to knock to come into your own room, Edward." She stood and turned to face me.

Her eyes travelled from my face down my bare chest and back up again. "I know I don't have to, but it's polite." I mumbled, going towards the closet. I threw my dirty clothes into the hamper, keeping my shirt, and then I grabbed a new shirt from a drawer. I went back to where she was standing beside the sofa. "Can we swap shirts, please?" I asked, holding my used one out to her.

She furrowed her brows and looked down at the shirt she was wearing. "Okay." She said softly. She pulled it off over her head and I did my best not to ogle her as she stood there in only her bra and jeans. Her tattoo was as black as night and the letters of my name stood off her skin like speed humps.

I swallowed hard. She passed me her shirt and she took mine from me. I pulled her navy one over my head and tugged it until it stretched enough to accommodate my shape. I pulled the hem of it to my nose and drank in her scent. She watched as I did it and closed her eyes and drank in my scent from the shirt I'd handed her. She needed it against her skin as much as I needed hers. There was no need to speak about it, it was what it was.

I pulled my clean shirt on over the top of hers and watched as she pulled my shirt on over her bra.

She was about to say something when Rosie knocked on our door. "This little one is asking for her parents." She came into the room and handed a sleepy Nessa to Bella.

"Thanks." Bella leaned over and kissed Nessa's curls and then took her to the sofa and cradled her in her lap. Nessa was already dreaming.

Rosie looked at me and nodded towards Bella. _'I just want a quick word then we're leaving.' _I nodded minutely and busied myself by going into the bathroom to hang up the wet towels.

Rose moved towards the sofa and sat on the edge of the coffee table. "It's so good to see you Bell's. It's not the same around here without you." She whispered as she leaned over and patted Nessa's hair.

Bella looked up at my sister with sad eyes. She turned to look at me where I was standing in the doorway of the bathroom and then she turned back to Rosie. "I've missed you too."

"We were wondering, if it's alright with you, whether we can come of a morning, to your house? Like we used to at the cottage, you know, before work and school?" Rose asked.

"Of course you can. We'd love that." Bella looked down at our sleeping daughter and then back up to Rose. "You're all welcome, anytime."

"Good. We'll see you normal time tomorrow morning then. Alice is dragging me off shopping now, but I'll see you both later. See you Bella. Bye Ed." And with that she was gone.

"Thank you." I whispered so I wouldn't wake Nessa.

"What for?" Bella looked up at me with confused eyes as I sat beside her on the sofa.

"May I?" I nodded towards Nessa and Bella nodded. I scooped the sleeping baby up and bought her into my lap as I'd seen in Alice' vision. "And I was saying thank you for being so kind to the others. They don't deserve it, and neither do I." I told her.

She sighed and leaned back into the sofa a little more. "I don't know why they are being so nice to me, Edward." She whispered as though she was sure they would come running and pounce on her if she was any louder. "Or why you are."

I chuckled softly, "They're nice to you because you haven't done anything wrong. You, on the other hand, don't have to be nice to us if you don't want to be, we really don't deserve it." I shifted down in the seat a little and Nessa snuffled softly. I ran my fingers through the matted curls at the nape of her neck and she wriggled a little before settling once again. "And I'm being nice to you because I love you." I told her quietly.

Without warning she pushed off the arm of the sofa and leaned her head on my shoulder. She startled and made to move away when I sucked in a sharp breath. I'd only reacted that way because of the instant arousal I felt and the jolt as our skin collided. "Sorry." She mumbled.

"Please, come back." I pled softly, hoping she'd catch not only the inflection in my voice but also the double meaning in my words.

She said nothing but she did put her head back on my shoulder.

**BPOV**

It felt so nice to just sit with him. Before I always felt like we were wasting time if we weren't doing something. Now I wanted nothing more than for Nessa to sleep for hours so I'd be able to just lean on him some more.

But, of course, we don't always get what we want. We got one hour of tranquillity and then Nessa was up and about and ready to go again for her second wind of the day.

We reluctantly, well I was reluctant I couldn't speak for Edward, got up from the sofa and took Nessa downstairs.

The others had returned from their shopping trip so a fashion parade was held, in which Nessa was the star. Alice and Rose had bought her dozens of new outfits, in duplicate so she could take one set home and leave an identical set there. It made me want to cry, that they had to do that. I felt so fucking guilty it was eating me up.

But, again, not a single one of them made out as though anything was different. It was just one, big happy family and it was business as usual. Edward was relaxed and jovial and full of praise for Nessa who tip toed around in Alice' new high heels as though she was destined for the catwalk herself.

"You should be capturing this, love." He made a clicking gesture with his fingers to symbolise a camera and I shrugged. I hadn't bought my camera with me.

I couldn't deny the shiver I got when I replayed his words in my mind. The way his silken voice caressed the word love at the end of his statements made me ache all that much more. I'd had about all I could handle for one day. And as much as I loathed the idea of being in the apartment again I knew it was time to take my daughter home. There was no point having left if I was just going to spend all my time with them anyway.

I stood and pushed all of Nessa's new clothes back into their carrier bags ready for the trip home. Then I went upstairs to Edward's room and collected Nessa's wet swimmers and my own and shoved them into a plastic shopping bag. I rolled the towels that I'd bought with me up and shoved them in too.

I glanced briefly at the room and said a silent goodbye to my belongings that I was once again leaving behind and then I went downstairs to extricate Nessa from the bosom of the family.

I put our things at the foot of the stairs and went to where Emmett had Nessa on his lap. "I should take you home now little miss. Mommy has some things to do." I lied smoothly.

"Aw shucks. Really?" Emmett pouted. "Okay, well, if you have to go you have to go munchkin. I'll see you in the morning though. Lay some lip on me hot stuff." He presented his cheek for her and she kissed it sweetly.

"Bye Unca Emmy." Nessa pouted.

She was passed around from aunt to uncle to aunt and then to Esme who kissed and hugged her tight. "I'd like to visit you both tomorrow, if I may?" She asked me over Nessa's head.

"Of course. I'll be there. Edward can give you the address?" I looked to Edward who was nodding sagely. "I'll see you guys in the morning. Come on little one." I was about to lean over and take her from Esme when Edward flew in and scooped her up instead.

"Let me get one last bite of the cherry for the day, love." He said as he covered her face in kisses, making her squeal in delight. "Give the old man a goodbye chomp Nessa." He presented his hand to her and she pulled his thumb into her mouth and with the cheekiest of grins she bit down on his thumb. "Ouch you little monkey!" He played his role to the hilt and Nessa laughed in delight. "Come on, I'll put you into the car for mommy."

I waved behind me at the others and went out the front door behind Edward. I waited until he'd strapped Nessa into her seat and had kissed her goodbye and then I moved with him to the driver's door. He opened it and as I was getting in he stepped closer and drew me to him using his hands on the tops of my shoulders. He put a soft, gentle kiss into my hair and then let me go.

"Thank you for today Edward; I had a really nice time." I smiled up at him and tried my best to mask my sadness at having to leave him.

"I'm glad." He shot me his best crooked grin, "Listen, Nessa showed me her memory of you two having to sneak off to hunt yesterday so I was wondering, you know, if you want, I could come over when the others come and maybe we could all hunt together? It kinda looked like fun." He shuffled his feet a little and creased his brow while he waited for me to answer.

"Sure. I mean, we all have to hunt, right?" I said as casually as I could.

"Good, so I'll see you both then." His face brightened even though I'd been deliberately noncommittal about it. I got into the car and started it, closing the door gently. I hit the button to lower the window because he didn't look as though he was going to move until I did. He leaned in through it and kissed me again on the cheek. "Can I call you later?" He whispered against my ear, making me shiver.

He pulled out of the car and plunged his hands into his pockets while he waited for me to answer. I stared up at him as if seeing him for the first time. "I'd like that." I said truthfully.

He smiled again and then he walked slowly away and up the stairs. He was still waving at us as we turned left out of the driveway.

**EPOV**

When the Guardian had turned out onto the highway safely I flew back into the house and threw myself onto the sofa beside my brothers and sisters.

"That was fucking awesome!" I crowed, not caring about the grumbling Esme in the kitchen.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face me.

"Went well then huh?" Emmett asked. He was grinning like an imbecile and thinking about me jacking off in his shower, so I thought I should at least apologise for that.

"Sorry dude." I knuckled him in his shoulder but he said nothing more about my indiscretion. Thank god.

"Did you ask her out for tomorrow night?" Rosie asked as she loaded her shopping bags and looped them around her wrists.

"No, I didn't. I'm going over there with you guys in the morning, we're going to hunt together. So I'll ask her then." I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I said it. She'd said she'd like it if I called her later and she'd agreed to let me hunt with them _and_ she'd told me she wanted to be mine. It was a grand day to be me!

"They'll be home soon, who's turn is it on watch?" Esme asked from the dining room where she was laying out papers across the table. "And you need to come and show me how this works Edward."

I waved to Alice as she ran out the backdoor, she was on duty until morning.

I went to see what Esme was talking about and saw that she had laid out my lesson timetable for Nessa's education. I'd abandoned it when Eleazar had shopped us to the Romanians and the shit had hit the fan. "It's pretty straight forward Esme. Each day someone gets a turn to teach her something. It looks a bit regimented now." I laughed.

Esme turned to face me and put a gentle hand on my cheek. "You aren't quite so regimented now, are you Edward?" She asked cautiously. She was thinking how relaxed and happy I'd been today.

I shrugged. "I'm okay." I told her, not knowing what else to say. I didn't want to be strict and regimented, I wanted to be carefree and happy, but after a hundred years of needing to be in control it was proving a tough ask. But I was learning, slowly.

"It'll be okay darling. Trust me, she adores you." I cringed when she thought over the sounds of Bella quite obviously pleasuring herself in our shower earlier.

"Hey, I don't need that, _mom."_ I admonished.

She shrugged and giggled lightly. "Oh give it up Edward, we all saw the sexual tension between you two today. It's still all there you know? Under all her anger and hurt she still craves her mate." She told me firmly. "You just have to talk to each other."

She pointed to a block marked 'cooking' in tomorrow's column. "That's what I'm going to Bella's to do tomorrow. We'll cook something to tempt Nessa." And with that she flounced off to dig out a children's cookbook.

I went back into the living room and sat down beside Jasper and reached for an Xbox controller from the coffee table.

Jasper laughed.

"What?" I asked him.

"You. You're dating your own wife, going to wine bars and now you want to play Xbox? What gives man? Anyone seen Edward's mojo, it might be in his handbag with his tampons."

Emmett roared with laughter and then he joined in 'bashing' Jasper with me.

At ten I threw the controller onto the table and said I was turning in. All the thoughts in the house, including the recently returned Carlisle's, were on how my phone call was about to go. If asked I would've had to admit that I as shitting like a big black Alsatian. But I wasn't asked so instead I did laps around our suite while I worked up the courage to hit dial.

**BPOV**

Nessa was sound asleep and I was pacing like a mad woman.

He'd asked if he could call, well it was after ten now and he still hadn't.

Should I call him? Should I turn my phone off to teach him a lesson? Should I text? Shit. I had no idea what I was doing. I was torturing myself staying away from him and judging by his reaction to even swimming with me today – I shuddered when I recalled the sound of his pleasure in the shower – I was torturing him too.

I looked at the clock. 10.08pm. If he hadn't called me by a quarter after I would call him.

Yes. Good plan. I could use the excuse that we didn't talk about, well something. I'd think of something before then. Good. One more minute and I would dial. He'd answer on the first or second ring because he wanted to talk to me as much as I wanted to talk to him, we'd be polite, I'd tell him I'd had a nice day. No, I'd already told him that. I'd tell him that Nessa had a nice day too. I'd tell him how she was tonight, what we read, what we played. It would be pleasant and I'd be able to really listen to what he had to say without the distraction my libido threw in my face every time we were in the same room together.

I tapped my nails impatiently on the kitchen counter while I waited for the clock to change from nine to ten and just as it did my cell rang. I snatched it up and answered it _before_ the first ring had completed it cycle.

Shit. He'd think I was pathetic.

"Hello Edward." I managed to rasp out.

"Hello love. Is everything alright? You sound odd." He was laughing, I could hear it in his voice.

I took the phone and sat on the armchair. I took a deep breath and steadied myself. I could do this. Just calm down Bella. "No, no everything's fine. We're all good here. You? How are you Edward?" I asked.

"Very well, thank you. Did you have a nice evening?" He asked. All this skirting around was tough.

"I did. We did, yes." I jumped about a foot out of the chair when a loud bang rattled the joining wall between me and number two. Mr and Mrs Phillips had a rather volatile relationship. He was convinced she was cheating on him with the guy who had come to clean out their rain gutters last spring and she was convinced he wouldn't care if she really was, which she wasn't. "Shit." I muttered when another coffee mug sacrificed itself so they could have wild make up sex.

"What the fuck was that Isabella? What's going on there? Do you need me to come?" His voice was panicked.

"No, god no, it's nothing. It's just the couple next door. They fight a lot, he throws things then they make up. It's nothing." I told him.

"Jesus." He mumbled. "Do they wake Nessa up with that shit?" He growled.

"Not so far, no. It's nothing Edward. Just part of communal living." I tried my best to placate him but I doubted he was buying it. After all, I hated it here myself, it was hard to convince someone it was fine when you didn't want to be there yourself.

"Communal living my ass. The eight of us lived together perfectly happily, nobody ever threw anything." He was angry now.

I sighed, this wasn't how I wanted this conversation to go. I'd have to try distraction again. "Edward, forget about that. Tell me something I don't know about. Tell me something you can't say face to face." It was the best distraction I could come up with at short notice. I knew he'd bite. He was as eager to keeping the conversation going as I was. Saying difficult things or things that might hurt were always easier on the phone. I hoped he'd take the chance I was offering.

I listened intently as he blew a breath out slowly. "I'm thinking. Give me a second." He whispered. I could imagine him pacing the length of his room, up against the glass doors, wracking his brain for what to say. "Okay. I'll tell you something you don't already know." He was stalling. He breathed out slowly, again, and then he began, "So something you don't know would be that Alice is standing under a tree, maybe sitting in it knowing Alice, at the back of your yard right now." The way he ended the statement I could tell he was bracing himself for me to fly off the handle.

"Give me a second." I too blew out a breath and began pacing the living room. It was so fucking small and cramped it only took four paces each way. I went to the backdoor and peered through the glass window embedded in it, looking out towards the trees. I couldn't see anyone or anything, it was pitch black outside and even with my vampiric sight there was nothing to see. But I knew she was out there now. "I don't see her but I believe you. Am I watched all the time then?" I asked carefully. I didn't want to fight, in fact quite the opposite.

"Yes, everyone takes a turn. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner." He said softly.

"I wouldn't have told me either." I agreed, "Do you take a turn Edward? Have you been out there during the night too?" I asked.

"Once, yes. Last night. It was actually Rose's shift but after I took you home...um...oh fuck it. I can just say it now right? When I left you in that fucking hovel I heard you crying so I told Rose to go home and I took her place. I came home this morning when Jaz arrived for his shift." He admitted cautiously.

"I see." I was about to lose my bundle. Not in anger but with gratitude and longing, and desire and loneliness and hunger for my mate. He'd stood in the trees all night listening to me cry. He'd stayed when I'd needed him to, he hadn't run. Sure, I didn't know he was there and I'd never asked him to actually stay, but he knew I was upset and he'd stayed. _And_ he'd called the apartment a hovel. He knew I hated it. He hated it too. "Um, thank you. I don't know what else to say but thank you."

"You're welcome Bella. I'll stay out there day and night if you want me to. Just say it, love." He offered.

The 'love' on the end made my chest ache again. "Listen, I don't want to hang up but I have to go and do something. What are your plans for the night Edward?" I asked.

He laughed. "I don't have any plans Bella."

"Okay, um, I'll call you back, okay?"

"Okay, I'll be waiting. Bye Bella, don't be too hard on her." And with that he hung up.

He might not be able to read me but he knew me well, very well.

I checked the locks were secure on the front door and grabbed my keys. I slipped my cell phone into my pocket and I made one last check on Nessa then I went out the backdoor, locking it with the key and testing it twice to make sure it was safe. I'd hear Nessa if she woke, even from the trees. I walked casually down the side fence and out into the trees at the rear of the yard.

"I'm up here." Alice giggled.

I looked up, to my right, and spotted her – legs swinging of course – about twenty feet up in a tree.

"Hi." I whispered and grabbed onto the lowest of the branches under her. With two swings and a jump I was sat beside her, legs swinging, of course. "Fancy meeting you here." I giggled.

"Stupid brothers." She grumbled, reaching for me and pulling me into her hug.

"Yeah, stupid brothers." I agreed.

**EPOV**

By now they'd both be sitting in the tree, legs swinging of course, and talking trash about me probably.

I'd be lauded as a shit, an asshole, a monster and then they'd start to get serious about it and I'd be called quite a few things I'd probably never heard of.

I was okay with that, I deserved all of it.

I had been so relieved when she didn't go nuts about the protection thing. She actually said thank you, which threw me. As much as I was confusing her not reacting the way I normally would, she was confusing me just the same.

I resumed pacing while I waited for her to call me back but was interrupted by Carlisle who came to see how it went.

"Come in." I told him as he got to the door. "She's just gone to talk to Alice. She's going to call me back." I chuckled.

"You told her? And how did she take it?" His thoughts instantly went to how to contain the violence at Perry Street if Bella was pissed.

I chuckled again, "No need for any damage control. She said thank you and went off to talk to her. That's all."

"Amazing. They're so fickle, aren't they, women?" He laughed, earning an 'I hear you' from Esme and a rather impolite threat from Rose that required the use of a ladder, two knotted ropes some chicken fat and a pair of needle nosed pliers, which he shrugged off with a grin.

"I'm not sure I'd say fickle in Bella's case, but something like that, yes." I agreed. "She's a constant surprise to me Carlisle. How can that be when I've watched her nearly her whole life? How can I still be learning about her even now?" I went back to pacing the width of the doors, my cell phone gripped tightly in my hand although I knew it would be a while before it rang again tonight.

He smiled and sat in the armchair under the windows where Bella used to sit and read. "Of course you're still learning. You're both young – don't look at me like that, you are both young – and being first time parents has changed you both. You aren't the same as you were before Nessa was born and neither is she. She needs more from you now than ever. Even more than she needed when she was first changed. The goal posts have moved Edward. Before she needed a lover, then a husband now a father and a mate." He said evenly. His thoughts, however, were thinking about me being her mate and how that was still one facet of my own psyche I hadn't quite mastered.

I thought about that for the longest time. Could it really be that simple? That she needed more from me as her mate?

And as I listened to the thoughts in the house I knew that I could make it that simple. I was good at being a boyfriend to Bella because I knew how to do that. I could watch and listen to the boys around me and I learnt to be what she needed. Then when we got married I knew how to be a husband and even though I managed to fuck that up royally, I still believed I could achieve it because I had three other husbands in the house to learn it from. Being a father I had no idea about. Bella had no idea how to be a mother either, but I thought she was brilliant at it. She didn't have a very good role model. Renee was great, now, but she hadn't always been. She was a reluctant mother in many ways. Bella wasn't. I knew we'd make good parents, we just needed the chance. So that wasn't the problem for us either. Now I knew what was.

We didn't know how to be mates. I'd never had a mate, obviously, and Bella was so new to being a vampire she'd not had a chance to really learn how to be my mate either.

Bella needed more from me now that we had Nessa because she needed a mate she could rely on. A mate who would protect her and the baby no matter what. A mate who would confide in her and plan with her, learn with her and grow with her. That's where I'd let her down.

That's what I had to fix.

"I can give her what she needs Carlisle." I said firmly.

"I know you can, son." He stood and patted me on the shoulder before going back down to his and Esme's suite. She greeted him warmly when he entered and as he laid his head on her breast he told her his thoughts. "They're going to be okay you know? He just has to let her into his head and she has to learn to trust him again. Simple." He told her.

"Simple." Esme agreed sarcastically. _'Stupid men.'_ She thought.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review, it makes me want to keep writing. If you have found something of interest please drop me a line and let me know. If you have hated the way I've portrayed our beloved characters let me know that too. **


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28 – Little Fibs Big Consequences

28.

**BPOV**

"So, now we agree that brothers are stupid, how come you're sitting in a tree in my backyard in the middle of the night?" I laughed.

"Is there much point answering that?" Alice giggled. "He dropped me in it and I don't need to be psychic to know it."

"Yeah, he did. Stupid brothers." I said again. "I don't suppose you want to tell me what it is you're actually out here standing guard over me for?" I squinted at her hoping she'd tell me something without me having to ask Edward about it.

"Ahh, you see dear sister," She said condescendingly while patting me on the thigh, "You are about thirty feet away from that tiny little part human body asleep there in that god awful excuse for an abode, and it's just far enough that I can see your future as clearly as if it was showing on a movie screen. Questions like that one need to be asked of your mate, you won't trick me into that." She scoffed and I seethed.

"Fine." I spat impatiently. "And it's not that bad in there." I tried to sound offended.

"You are the worst actress Bella. You hate it there, Nessa hates it there, Edward thinks you might be the first ever vampire to catch some evil socially unacceptable disease simply be breathing the air in there and Carlisle is beside himself that Nessa might actually grow accustomed to living like your neighbours do." She screwed up her dainty little nose and sniffed in the direction of the apartment building.

The snort of laughter that broke its way out of my mouth was not something I could, or wanted, to contain. "Oh my god Alice, you're a snob!" I used my index finger to point at her.

"So what?" She laughed along. "Maybe I am. Yeah, I probably am, but you can't like living here, can you?"

"No, I don't." I admitted sadly. "But I can't go home to the cottage either Alice."

"I know sis, I know." She patted my thigh again but this time she did it lovingly, soothingly. "Hang in there, you're doing great."

My eyes flew open in surprise. "What do you mean?"

She laughed again, "Well, it's obvious you're only staying here to make him suffer. Hey, don't worry about it, I'm with you on this, so's Rose. Is he grovelling like he's your bitch yet?" She giggled.

I couldn't believe it. They thought this was funny? They thought I was doing this to prove a point and to make Edward grovel? This was my life, my future and Nessa's. I saw red.

"You think this is a game? You think I'm doing this to torture him?" I hissed this out over my clenched teeth. My legs certainly weren't swinging back and forth now.

"Calm down Bella." She rolled her eyes. She fucking rolled her eyes like this was about some high school crush who liked another girl better than me.

"You have no idea what's going on for me and you're part of the fucking problem!" I bellowed, making her wince. I slipped off the branch and hit the ground with a slight thud. "Fuck you Alice Cullen. Go home, go home and tell them all to stay the fuck away from me and from Nessa." I spun on my heel and made to run back to the apartment. I took two steps and rounded on her as she too slid off the branch, "And another thing, just for your information. I'm not doing 'this' for fun. I had no choice but to leave him. And you. All of you. You all know what's going on and not one of you told me anything. You voted to keep it from me for Christ's sake. My whole life was a lie. He lied to me, repeatedly, for months. He withdrew everything of himself from me. He stopped touching me, stopped making love to me. He made a lie out of our wedding vows Alice! How could he do that? To me? He's the only one I'm ever going to love and I'm going to have to spend eternity without him. He told me he loved me, he told me we'd be equals. He, he made me what I am and then he threw it all away. He betrayed my trust, he broke my heart Alice." I fell to my knees and let it all come spilling out of me. Every last ounce of pain and anger, it all came out of my body in a rush. I heaved and heaved onto the ground. Giant dry, hacking sobs rent the air as Alice came to sit beside me.

She cradled me in her arms and held me tight while the ache let itself known to me and to her. "Shh darling, shhh." She cooed into my ear as she stroked my hair. "I know sweety, I know." She sang over and over as I cried for Edward. "Well I guess that answers that question then." She whispered, kissing my hair as she held me.

"What?" I mumbled, trying to steady myself so I could go back inside.

"Oh Bella, you should know by now that I'm the evilest of all the Cullen's. You've just admitted to me that you love him, only him and that you'll never love anyone else. That's all I needed to know sweety." She kissed me again and I slumped against her shoulder, needing every ounce of her strength and the hug she offered.

"I do Alice, I do love him. But I can't go back. Nothing's changed." I sobbed, though a little more quietly now. She'd played me much the same way Edward used to play me. I felt pretty stupid for walking into it headlong but I just couldn't raise the energy to care all that much. She had what she wanted; I wanted her help to get what I wanted.

"I know that too." She agreed. "But so does he, Bella. Please give him, and us, a chance to put it right. I'm so sorry we kept things from you Bella, we all are. Everyone will tell you that in their own time I'm sure, but you need to know just how sorry I am. It was wrong and it wasn't fair. Just give us another chance, please." She sighed.

"I don't know." I mumbled. I pulled out of her arms and stood to brush the leaves and dirt off my jeans. I hugged her to me for another moment and when I pulled away I gave her a kiss on her cheek. "I have to go Alice."

"I know. Talk to him Bella, really talk and make him really listen. It's the only way." She gave me a brief nod and then she swung back up onto her branch. "I love you Bella. And not just because you're my sister now. I've always loved you because you're a beautiful person."

I smiled. "I love you too Ali, and not just because you're my sister either. I guess I have to go make a call?" I cringed because she was planning to stay and she'd hear every word.

She tossed me a grin, "I won't listen, honest. Besides, Mike Newton's got a headset on chatting to some girl in Spain. Well, he thinks it's a girl." She nodded towards Mike's house a few doors down and sure enough I could hear the feint sound of him talking. '_Oh baby, that's so hot. Yeah...I'm a doctor you know...yeah, really...what are you wearing?'_

I shuddered and shook my head. "Gross but enjoy Alice. See you in the morning." I waved once more when I got to the edge of the fence but she was already engrossed in what was going on at Mikes, I don't think she noticed.

I ran back to the apartment and unlocked the back door. I checked on Nessa who was still sound asleep and then I went into my bedroom and got under the covers. I buried my nose in Edward's shirt, that I was still wearing, and as I drank in his scent I dialled his cell.

**EPOV**

Let it ring twice, at least, I told myself then answered before the end of the first ring. Shit.

"Hello love." I answered.

"Edward." She said breathlessly.

"Are you alright?" I asked carefully. It was such a loaded question.

"I will be. Tell Carlisle to call off the containment forces. Alice is fine and happily listening to Newton Skype sex." I swear I heard her shudder.

"I don't want to know about that last part but I'm glad Alice is okay." I chuckled. Newton was going to have to be dealt with, he was so disgusting.

"She's fine. We just talked. Well, she talked, I yelled for a bit, but we're okay now." She giggled. It was the most beautiful sound.

I walked with the phone back to our bed and lay down on top of the covers. "You yelled huh?"

Bella sighed, long and heavily. "Yeah, I yelled. She tricked me into it. She's evil." She was trying to be flippant but I could hear the pain in her voice.

"Do you want to tell me about it, love?" I asked.

I waited while she thought on it. "Is there much point? You'll pick it out of her head when she gets home anyway." She sounded unhappy about that.

"I don't have to pick it from her head if you and I discuss it." I was about to put my head under the guillotine blade and only time would tell if she let it drop. "I'd like us to share Bella. I know I haven't been, and I'm paying a steep price for that, but I want us to be able to share."

I put the handset between my shoulder and my ear and laid on it. I pulled her pillow up to my face and inhaled deeply, smothering myself in the feint scent still clinging to the cotton. She still hadn't responded but I knew she was thinking hard about how to reply.

"I didn't stop sharing with you Edward, it was you who pulled the plug on that." She was angry and hurt and she was one hundred percent right.

"I did. I'm so sorry I did, but you're right, I did." I agreed. "I'm trying to make up for it, give me the chance to try, please." I begged.

She huffed, "Alice tricked me into admitting some things by making it sound like her and Rose were enjoying me torturing you for fun." It came out in a rush and I had to replay it in order to understand what she'd actually said.

"Fucking hell." I mumbled. "Oh, um, sorry." I stumbled over the words while I tried to assemble some actual coherent sentences in my head. "Ahh, I can see why that would make you yell." I hedged. "So, you're not torturing me for fun then, that's a relief." I tried a hesitant chuckle.

She echoed it, thank god. "Are you tortured Edward?" She scoffed.

"Of course I fucking am, aren't you?" I tried to keep the question light-hearted, in the same vein as the conversation we were having, but the answer was much more important to me than mine was for her.

"I'm miserable." She whispered, making my heart clench and a hiss escape my lips. "Edward?" She asked obviously having heard it.

"Yeah." Was all I could say.

"Do you really want to share with me?" She asked quietly, the serious tone back in her voice.

"I do. I honestly do, I swear I won't keep things from you again. I've learnt that lesson Bella, I really have. Please, let me." I was rambling but I didn't care.

"I have some questions and I'd like it if you answered them honestly for me?" She asked.

"I swear, no more secrets, no more lies. Ask anything you want, I'll answer it, I promise." I said firmly, meaning every word despite knowing what she wanted to know.

"Ok Edward. I believe you. But, just because I've admitted to you that I'm miserable doesn't mean I'm coming back. Okay?" The words cut through me like a knife but I knew they were coming.

"Okay. Ask me anything." I tried to remain calm despite the ache that was slowly making itself known in my brain.

"Who's coming?" It was a simple question.

"The Romanians and probably their guard. Stefan and Vladimir and their henchmen more than likely." I answered evenly.

"Is it because she's half human half vampire or because he's a wolf?" She asked astutely.

I blew my held breath out over my lips and ran a hand through my hair. "Jesus Bella. I kept this all from you because I thought I was protecting you, but you knew, didn't you?" The realization stabbed me right in the gut.

"I'm not stupid, despite you treating me like I am. I saw things, I hear really well Edward. I am a vampire, after all. So which is it, her or him?" She asked.

"Him." I told her. "The Romanians have issues with werewolves, always have had. They want to wipe the pack out and because Nessa is bonded to Seth, her too." I told her. Actually saying it was freeing. I'd dreaded having to do it for so long, I'd built it up until it was this massive black cloud hanging over my head. When in reality it was just one more thing that Bella and I should've worked through together.

"They aren't werewolves though. Why doesn't someone just tell the Romanians that?" She asked.

"Well fuck me!" I bellowed. "Bella you're a fucking genius. Why didn't I think of that? Fuck it. Bella I have to go real quick. I'll call you back, oh, um, I'll see you in a few hours anyway. Um. I love you my beauty. I have to find Carlisle. Love you." I hurriedly flipped the phone shut and threw it on the desk as I ran out the door and down two flights of stairs and began pounding on Carlisle's door.

He was already dressing, thinking about what I must have just learned. He opened the door, still pulling on his pants. "What is it? Is it Bella? Nessa? I knew they'd get hurt living there." He hissed.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. They aren't werewolves Carlisle. They're just wolves, shapeshifters, not werewolves. The Romanians are waging war on an assumption." I shouted into his shocked face.

He scrubbed his face with his hand and when he withdrew it his eyes were sparkling and he had a brilliant smile on his face. "Well I'll be damned. She's fucking amazing. Sorry Esme." He called over his shoulder.

**BPOV**

Edward might have rung off in a hurry but it was what he'd said _as_ he'd hurried that got me through the morning.

"I love you my beauty." I copied his words and hugged his shirt tighter. With his scent swirling around me I could almost imagine his face as he said it. Almost.

I opened my cell phone and dialled Alice.

"Have you seen it yet?" I asked.

"I'm already running." She answered. "I don't know why we didn't think of it before. Thanks Bella, you might have just solved our problem."

"Yeah well, I hate to say I told you so, but, had someone told me the problem earlier I might have been able to share this little insight earlier too." I grumbled.

"Touché sister of mine, touché. Listen, Seth's on his way to keep an eye on you guys, call if you need us yeah?" I could hear the wind as it caught in the microphone on her cell, she was really flying through the forest.

"We'll be fine Alice." I held my phone away from my face and saw that it was already 3am. "I'll see you in a couple of hours anyway. Go have your meeting."

"Love you Bell's." And with that she snapped the phone shut.

I got up out of the bed and went into the little bathroom to wash my face. It had been a long day and a very, very long night. But I didn't feel quite as lost as I had when I got out of the bed this morning. Surely that was progress?

"Lay some lip on me sweet thing." Emmett swung Nessa up into his arms and she kissed him soundly, with a loud 'thwacking' noise on his cheek. "You give good lip little one." He chuckled.

"Daddy likes to kiss mommy on his name." Nessa said matter of factly.

A whole room full of Cullen goldfish – and one Clearwater goldfish - turned to look at first Nessa, then me, then Edward. "What do you mean?" Edward asked our daughter.

She jumped down out of Emmett's arms and walked to where I was leaning up against the counter. She held her arms out so that I'd pick her up and when she was settled on my hip she pulled the collar of my shirt aside, exposing my tattoo. "You like to kiss your name daddy."

Then she wriggled out of my arms and went back to sitting in Emmett's lap.

Alice began twittering and soon Rose had joined in.

Seth was doing his best to look anywhere other than at Edward and I.

The two boys fist bumped each other and whispered 'nice' and 'he's such a playa'.

Edward was staring at me as if I was the last Godiva chocolate in the box. He closed the distance between us in two strides and took hold of my hand. "A private word, if I may?" And then he led me out the backdoor. We walked the length of the fence and out into the trees. "Run Bella." He whispered.

I put my hand in his and let him lead me away from my house. Two miles to the west he came to an abrupt halt, ground his heels into the dirt and turned to face me. He was panting, his shoulders were heaving and his nostrils were flared as he took in the swirling scents around us. I could smell the venom on his tongue.

"She's only a child Edward, she doesn't know that what she said was rude or inappropriate." I hoped his anger would abate now we were far enough away from both Nessa and his siblings.

He spun on his heel and stalked back towards me. "I'm not angry." He growled. He looked down at his hands as though he was contemplating something and then he put them on my arms. I sighed as his skin came in contact with mine. "You feel that too, don't you Bella?" He whispered, stepping closer. He ran his hands up and over my shoulders, up my throat and let them settle on my cheeks. I could smell his sweet breath now. I closed my eyes and let his scent flood my senses. His venom was floating on the air between us, I sucked in a breath and tasted its feint hint in my mouth. I couldn't help but sigh. "She's right. I want to kiss my name."

My eyes flew open and I stared into his black eyes. "You aren't angry with her?" I mumbled, confused.

"I couldn't care less what she said." He whispered, his mouth hovering so close to mine that if I darted my tongue out I'd be able to swipe the shimmer of venom off his bottom lip. My entire body shivered, from head to toe, as I thought it. "May I kiss you Bella?" He whispered against my lips.

"Please Edward." I sighed, not hesitating.

And then his lips were on mine. They were so soft, so warm, and so hungry. The first swipe of his tongue across my bottom lip made my knees buckle. He let his hands fall from my cheeks and ran them down my arms again. He slid them around my waist and held me at the small of my back. He kept me steady while his tongue licked once again across my lip. I couldn't help my moan of pleasure as I parted my lips and allowed his tongue into my mouth.

His venom was intoxicating. And there was a lot of it. Desperation and desire did that to us.

I ran my hands up his sides and laced my fingers behind his neck, hoping to turn this soft, gentle kiss into something more intense. But he wouldn't have it. He shuffled his feet so we were still a few inches apart, no other part of our bodies touching other than our hungry mouths.

I wound my fingers into his hair and stroked his neck. He purred into my mouth and I drank it down along with his venom.

As quickly as we began he was pulling away from me. I tried to hold onto him. I was stronger than he was and when I locked my fingers through each other I knew he had no chance to break the embrace.

He let my lips go and moved his face a little further back from me. "Please Bella." He whispered. "We have to stop." He said softly, letting his forehead fall to mine until we were both staring into each others eyes. "We shouldn't do this, not when there is so much unresolved between us."

His words made sense but my body wanted him. It was that simple. My mind knew he was right but my body thought he was a fucking idiot.

"Okay." I whispered in reluctant agreement.

He kissed me ever so lightly at the corner of my mouth and took my hands down out of his hair. He pulled my left hand to his lips and kissed my wedding rings. "Run with me." He said.

We covered the same distance in seconds and went back into the apartment to rejoin the others.

Nothing was said but we were watched intently once we returned to the flat. When the others left for school and work it was Alice who hugged me tightest. "Progress." She whispered and let me go.

I nodded.

"We'll see you tomorrow little one." They all shouted as they got into their cars and sped off waving right down to the end of the street.

The three of us went back into the dingy little hole I lived in. "I can't go hunting Bella." Edward said as soon as I'd closed the door behind us.

I looked at him, shocked. I was about to protest, hell I was about to beg him to come along when he held up his hand and shook his head. "Okay." I said meekly, not understanding why and beginning to feel hurt because of it.

He bent down to Nessa who was standing between us looking up at him with a sad pout. "Daddy has to go home now Nessa. I'll come hunting with you and mommy tomorrow morning, I promise." He pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. "Will you go and straighten your room for mommy please Nessa?" He asked her.

"Okay daddy." She kissed his cheek and ran off to her room.

Edward stood and came to where I was standing. He reached for my hand and kissed my fingers again. "I want to come along, you know I do. But I can't. Not with Nessa along. Please say you understand Bella." He pled with sad eyes.

I didn't understand. "Why Edward? I'm sorry I tried to kiss you harder, I mean, I'm not sorry obviously. But I shouldn't have done it, I know that."

He smiled, a heartbreakingly gorgeous smile. He kissed my temple and chuckled lightly. "I'm not sorry you did that either. Never." He laughed. "I can't go hunting because I won't be able to control myself Bella. Remember what I taught you about bloodlust and lust, love?"

"Oh." I was shocked. He was telling me he couldn't hunt with me because he didn't want to have to fight 'having' me with our daughter in tow. "Oh." I said again. "Right."

"I have to go, now." He said the word 'now' quite firmly and now that I was on the same page as him I understood why. "Can I see you tonight Bella?" He asked.

"Um, I don't know. What about Nessa?" I asked, stepping away from him and going to lean against the counter again.

"Bring her to the house. Will you go out with me tonight Bella? We could go dancing?" He asked.

"I'd like that. Okay, I'll bring her to the house, if it's okay with Esme. She's coming over today, I'll ask her and let you know."

He came to where I stood, planted a soft kiss at my jaw and rubbed his hand up my arm once more. "You know she'll do it. I'll see you at seven Bella. I love you."

He scooped the Aston keys off the counter and then he left. I stood still and listened as the car roared out the drive and sped off up the road towards town.

I had another date with my husband.

**EPOV**

Driving away from her was the worst kind of torture. I could smell her arousal the whole time I'd been in that abysmal flat with her and it clung to my clothing even now.

When I stopped at the traffic light I closed my eyes and concentrated on the taste of her still in my mouth. Her venom had saturated my senses from the very moment we'd come to a stop in the trees. I was still hard, impossibly hard.

The honking of the horn on the vehicle behind me woke me up from my daydream and I drove home as fast as I possibly could after that. I screeched to a halt in the driveway and ditched the Aston, leaving the keys in the ignition. I ran down beside the house, through the forest and towards the cottage. When I got there I kicked the front door in and flew down the hall and into our bedroom. Her scent was still here, it had been trapped inside when I'd shut and locked the doors the day she'd left me.

I pulled the covers back on the bed, toed my shoes off and slipped between the cool sheets. I buried my nose in her pillow and moaned. I unbuckled my jeans and slid my hand into my boxers. "Fuck!" I roared at the first delicious stroke. I closed my eyes and licked my palate. I could taste her, smell her and hear her as she gave me permission to kiss her. As I came into my hand all that was missing was her touch.

"Can you replace the front door on the cottage or not Em?" I asked sourly.

"Of course I can. I just want to know why it needs replacing, that's all." He laughed.

I held the cell phone away from my ear and cursed. "I was pissed." It was enough of a reason and once he figured it was the only answer he was going to get from me he promised he'd fix it when he got home in the afternoon.

I pushed what was left of the old door into the cavity it had vacated and ran back to the big house. Esme was already gone, a note pinned to the backdoor for me saying she had gone to Bella's and would be back when Nessa went for her nap.

I went into the living room and stared at the piano. While it was true that I felt better today than I had in nearly three weeks, I still wasn't sure if I could play. I opened the lid and ran a loving hand over the gleaming surface and sighed. It felt wrong to want to play, to get pleasure from something when I knew that Bella had nothing of her own to make her happy. It was as though my happiness was dependant on hers. And I came to believe, as I stood there staring at the keys, that it was.

I wouldn't be happy until she was.

I left the lid up but went upstairs and turned on my laptop instead. An hour later I had the address and details of a dance club in Port Angeles tucked into my jeans pocket and a plan to give Bella a nice evening out.

I took my overflowing satchel downstairs and sat on the piano stool. I spread my notes out onto the music stand and stuck a pencil behind my ear. I played and wrote for three hours solid. I couldn't stop. The music flowed from my brain and through my fingers faster than I could reasonably write it down. Four songs, each as dark and as desperate as the last, burst out of my soul as I sat and played.

I got each of them down onto paper and when my cell phone beeped to let me know I had a message I was happy with my days work.

~The flowers are lovely, thank you. Chocolates though? It's sweet but they made me gag ;) B xx ~

I couldn't help but laugh.

When the florist had suggested sending chocolates as well as flowers I'd agreed, even though I knew she couldn't eat them. It's what men did. We sent candy. It had seemed sweet and a little bit silly at the time and I was glad she got the joke.

I composed my reply and hit send before I could talk myself out of it.

~Glad you liked them. You're lovely too, much more so than the flowers. Can't wait to see you tonight, we'll dance the night away. Love you, E xx ~

I turned my attention back to the piano and set about making corrections to my new compositions. They were good, very good, but they always needed tweaking. And it would while the hours away in a more productive fashion than moping would.

**BPOV**

Esme studied the flower arrangement that had been delivered earlier and fingered the petals of the pink flowers. "Pink Camelias means that he is longing for you. The heather means protection and the jonquils, well let's just say that my son is missing your, um, womanly charms." She giggled.

"I see, I wonder what the chocolates mean then? He wants me to throw up?" I laughed.

"Who knows, with Edward it's probably some long and complicated idea that even he can't explain without the use of a dictionary." She laughed.

"Probably." I mumbled as I opened my phone to read the message he'd just sent me. "Sweet." I whispered, rereading the message a few times.

"That's a lovely smile." Esme put her fingers under my chin and lifted it so she could see my face. "Edward?" She nodded towards the cell phone in my hand.

"Yeah." I giggled. "We're going dancing tonight. Well, we're going dancing tonight if you'll agree to look after Nessa for me?"

She smiled, "Of course. Anytime, you know that." She went to where Nessa was sitting on the kitchen floor mixing her pretend cake mix with the wooden spoon. "Your grandpa Carlisle will be so pleased to see you little one." She said to Nessa who smiled up at her angelically.

"Don't be fooled by that smile." I laughed. "She emptied two full bottles of shampoo into her bath this morning, little devil." I scowled playfully at the little girl whose cherubic cheeks were aflame.

"Bubbles!" She shouted on the top of her lungs.

"Yes Nessa, there were lots of bubbles." I said, taking the bowl and spoon from her and putting her at my hip. "I think it might be time for your nap."

"Not tired mommy." She complained, and then yawned widely.

"I can see that." I stroked her rosy cheek and felt the heat radiating from it. I put the back of my hand to her forehead and felt heat there too. "Do you feel okay little one?"

I took her with me to the sofa and sat her in my lap.

"Not sleepy." She mumbled and snuggled into my chest.

"Okay then." I laughed at the yawning baby, "How about a kiss for Nana-Ne and then I'll tuck you up into bed with Frank for a little while?"

She reached for Esme and was kissed and hugged and handed back to me. I took her to her bed and put her on top of the covers seeing as she was a little warm already. I tucked Frank under her arm but she was already asleep. I kissed her curls and pulled the door half closed behind me.

Esme was putting away the now dry dishes and bowls in the cupboards in my awful kitchen. "Those are yours." I waved my hand over everything she was putting away. The only kitchen items I owned myself were a single coffee mug and Nessa's stainless steel bottles that she no longer needed anyway.

"They're yours now. She'll never eat human food if you don't make any for her to try." She admonished. "So you keep these and I'll come round and we'll bake again and see if we can't tempt her."

I smiled. "I'd like that."

When it was all cleaned up again, and the dishes stacked away, Esme came to stand beside me at the kitchen bench to admire the cooling rack filled with cookies. "They're beautiful, makes me wish I could still eat."

"Not me, they smell disgusting." I laughed.

"So, dancing?" She quirked an eyebrow at me.

"Yeah. It'll be nice." I told her.

"I am sorry, you know that don't you, dear?" She put her hand on my arm and closed her eyes for a second.

"I know Esme. I am too." I told her, putting my hand over hers and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Oh hush, you've nothing to be sorry for." She let me go and sat down at the kitchen table, patting the space beside her. I slid into it and waited for whatever words of wisdom she wanted to impart. "You know, men are basically stupid. Oh sure, they're strong and stoic and they act as though they rule their domains, but in reality they fall apart without us."

I laughed. "Edward seems to be doing just fine."

"He's a good liar." She whispered.

"Don't I know it." I mumbled. When I saw her grimace I was sorry I'd said anything.

"We all are Bella. We have to be. But we shouldn't lie to our mates, or our families. But we did, with you. I'm so sorry. I voted not to tell you twice, and for that I'll be eternally sorry." She dipped her head.

"It's done now. You did what you thought you should, I get that. Who knows, I might have done the same thing given the same choices. Hard to say from where I sit now." I cringed.

"Well. Enough of that. You have a date later so I should get out of your hair. It's been lovely seeing you Bella." She stood and hugged me tightly. "I love you so much sweetheart, everything will work out, I just know it." She whispered against my hair.

I was just coming out of the apartment when I heard my name being called. I turned, Nessa on my hip, and saw Mike Newton running down the street calling and waving at me.

Shit.

"Mommy is going to tell a little fib now Nessa. I need you to be quiet as a mouse, okay little one?" I pretended to lock my lips and throw away the key and she nodded and giggled softly. I transferred her to my other hip and put her bag on the ground beside the Guardian.

I took a long, deep pull of the clean air around me and held it in my lungs. He would be the first human I'd been anywhere near for three full days, no matter that he was Mike Newton he was going to smell delicious.

"Hey Bella. Looking good girl." He simpered as he came towards us. "And whose rugrat is this then?" He tried to reach out and touch her but she cringed away.

"Hi Mike." I was seething, how dare he speak about her that way. "This _rugrat_ is my cousins little girl." I hissed at him. "She was killed a few months ago, I was listed as her guardian." I lied smoothly. I'd have to remember to tell the family about this so they'd back up the story if asked.

He let his eyes travel from my face to my feet and back again. He actually licked his lip. Gross. "So why are you living here with her and not with Mr Wonderful?" He smirked. Then his eyes flew open wide and he started to chuckle. "Oh, I get it now. He bailed huh? Mr Wonderful wasn't so wonderful when it came to having to raise someone else's kid huh? Tough break, always knew he was a jerk." He shrugged.

I wanted to punch his smug face in, but I had Nessa on my hip and there was no way I'd be able to control myself enough to not kill him. So instead I smiled but said nothing. If I didn't confirm or deny his assumption it wasn't a lie, sort of. "I have to go Mike." I told him, moving back away and towards the Guardian. I slid Nessa into her seat and whispered to her to please stay quiet a little longer while mommy got rid of the nasty boy.

I closed Nessa's door and was moving around to the driver's side when Mike ambushed me midway. "If you get lonely at night I'm only a few doors down darl." He must have thought the endearment was, well endearing, but it was just creepy. "I don't care about you having to look after someone else's ruggie." He must have thought he was being charming, or that he was getting one over on Edward, but in reality he just sounded awful. "You knock on my door any time Bella." He winked and began walking back to his own car.

I shuddered and got into the Guardian as fast as I could. I had the car started and was pulling out of the driveway before he even had his door open. "It will be a cold day in hell before I knock on your door, douche." I laughed, using the nickname everyone at the school used for him.

"Momma, what's a douche?" Nessa asked from the backseat.

I laughed all the way to the Cullen house.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. I would love to hear what you think of my story so far, please review even if you find it dull and boring. **


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29 – Vow

29.

**EPOV**

"What the fuck is a ruggie?" I was appalled at what I was reading from Jasper's thoughts. "And what the fuck was he doing propositioning my wife?" I snarled, making Jasper wince.

"I think ruggie means rugrat, its Australian slang for a child, I think." Rosie offered the gathered vampires. All of whom were seething at the news that Newton had approached Bella and Nessa as they were leaving the apartment block.

"Well its offensive, at the very least." I mumbled. "I'll fucking kill him." I began pacing the length of the living room trying to work out if I had time to run there, neck him, run back and still be able to take Bella dancing.

"EDWARD CULLEN!" Alice boomed from her perch on the ottoman. "You will stay right here." She eyed me and scowled when I flipped her the bird.

Emmett and Jasper were both staring at me, waiting for the nod to go and do something painful to him. If we took him on another jaunt I doubted I'd be able to stop them, or myself, from doing something more permanent than we did last time. Charlie would know for sure and I'd be forced to run from Forks. Shit.

"We can't." I shot them a disappointed look and they both slumped back in their seats. "What?" I said nastily to Alice who was thinking less than wholesome thoughts about my character at that moment.

"What?" She screwed up her face and did a bad, bad imitation of me.

I was just about to start an argument with her when I heard the first rumblings of the Guardian on the driveway. I flew out of my seat and pulled the front door open, letting it fold back on itself and bang the wall. Esme hissed but said nothing. I was down the steps and at the side of the car before she even had the wheels turned straight and the ignition turned off. I pulled the door open roughly and the instant she had the seatbelt unclipped I had her out of the car and in my arms. I inhaled her hair and held her tightly. I didn't smell him on her so I knew he hadn't touched her, but I still wanted the fucker dead. Or, if not dead, very nearly dead. Ok, I couldn't outright kill him or harm him, but I could warn him, which I would take care of the first instant I had the chance.

"Hey, what's all this? What's wrong?" She mumbled up against my chest.

I closed my eyes and drank her in for half a minute and then I let her go and held her by her shoulders. "Nothing, I just missed you." I lied, mentally slapping myself for already lapsing back into lies. This one was the good kind though, surely?

She laughed lightly, "Well, thanks. I missed you too." She pulled Nessa's bag out from the passenger seat and went around to unbuckle our daughter. I waited patiently while Nessa was extracted from the car and then I walked them both into the house.

The girls took Nessa from Bella and within seconds she was gone, away up the stairs with her aunts and uncles, leaving Esme Bella and I in the foyer.

"Well, I guess we should go." I told her, putting my hand on the small of her back.

"Where are we actually going?" She asked.

"Dance club in Port Angeles." I smiled when she did. She was looking forward to dancing with me too by the look of it.

"Thank you for watching Nessa for me Esme." She said sweetly.

"Oh, is she actually here?" Esme rolled her eyes in the direction of the first floor, at the giggling and laughter coming from Alice' suite. "Have a nice time you two." She waved us away and went up the stairs to try and prise Nessa away from them. I knew it wouldn't work.

"Shall we?" I ushered Bella back out the door and towards the Z4 that I'd parked at the edge of the drive. "I thought we'd take this, I have only driven it twice."

She smiled. I helped her into her seat and went to my own. I waited until she was settled before starting the car and then we were off.

When we were out onto the highway I told her how lovely she looked. She had a long black skirt on with a wispy, sort of filmy, black lace top. She'd swept her hair up and it flowed down her back in a long tail. She smelled divine. Her natural scent was overwhelming in the tiny car.

"You look nice too." She said shyly.

I'd taken care to dress well. It was a date, after all. "Thank you. So, this place is an old fashioned dance hall. There is a dance club attached to it and once every few weeks the whole club puts on a dance." I told her.

"Sounds interesting." She laughed. "When you said dance club I assumed nightclub."

"Too loud." I said hastily. "Not the kind of dancing I had in mind."

"I see." She was chewing her lip. There was a question forming in her beautiful mind, I just had to be patient while she got it out. "Why did you throw yourself at me at the house?" She asked.

Damn. "Ahh, well, you see Jasper was on watch this afternoon." I left it there, hoping she'd join the dots herself.

**BPOV**

He was jealous. It would've been funny if it wasn't so annoying.

"Right. So let me see if I can make the leap here. Jasper is on watch, sees me leaving with Nessa. Mike Newton happens to stop to speak to me in the street. Jasper comes back when I leave, shift over. He either tells you what he saw or you read it from him. You go all caveman, ugg, drag my woman back to cave. You're jealous." I guessed, unable to keep the laughter out of my voice.

From the look on his face I thought I had it pretty well pegged.

"That sounds about right." He agreed. "You are missing one fundamental piece of the puzzle though. Emmett and Jasper volunteering to go and sort him out for me. That happened later though, you couldn't have known that part." He said matter of factly. "Oh, and yes, I was jealous."

"Wow, full disclosure." I mumbled, still smiling.

"Yeah, full disclosure." He agreed.

"Well then, how about we keep going? The Romanians, the wolves know?" I asked, changing tack so quickly he swerved the Z4 slightly before regaining his composure and righting it.

"They do." He said very quietly.

"And Seth? He knew too?" I asked.

"No." He said loudly. "No, we never told him. He's just a child, it wouldn't have been fair."

"I see. So that means I'm a child too then, does it?" I asked, trying to remain adult so as not to prove them right.

"No Bella. We just thought it best to leave it as long as possible to tell you. Oh hell. I convinced the others not to tell you. It was me, all me. I told them, begged them not to tell you because I didn't want to worry you. I didn't want you or Nessa upset." He swiped his hand over his mouth and I saw the silver shimmer of venom when he put his hand back on the wheel.

I moved my hand across the console and put it on top of his. I squeezed lightly. "It's okay Edward." I told him quietly. "Calm down, it's just a friendly chat." I told him. "We can talk about this without getting upset. It's done now, there's no point getting upset now." I soothed.

He seemed to calm a little after that. I watched his physical demeanour change before my very eyes the closer to Port Angeles we got. By the time we were outside the club – which turned out to be a church hall, very quaint – he was his old gentlemanly self.

I waited for him to help me from the car; he held my hand as we walked towards the entrance. He waited for me to take stock of my surroundings and to get a grip on my thirst, though I'd hunted that morning so I wasn't actually thirsty, but the burn never truly went away when I was near humans. Tonight they'd be all sweaty and delicious. He had his hand on the small of my back as our coats were taken. I saw him slip something shiny and gold into his trousers pocket, having retrieved it from his coat pocket as he handed it to the coat-check girl.

The music was low and the setting intimate inside the hall. There were maybe six or so couples already dancing as we made our way to an empty table. They'd been shoved up against the outer walls of the hall to make way for the floor, which was highly polished and gleaming. A slightly raised bandstand stood at the far end and a bar stood empty at the other. Nobody slouched over this bar. Couples sat at tables, sipping their drinks between dances. These were dedicated dancers, not partiers.

Edward held my chair for me while I sat and then he took one opposite.

"It's nice." I said across the table.

"It is. Carlisle brings Esme here a lot. Emmett and Rose too, but I'm not supposed to tell you that." He chuckled.

"Well I like it too." I looked around the room and catalogued the humans as best I could. They were mostly older couples, grey haired or close to it. The older music meant that we were probably the youngest people in the building, not withstanding Edward's longevity of course. These were long established couples, long married, long devoted. That husband went with that wife, they were probably someone's parents, most likely someone's grandparents too.

"What are you thinking?" When he asked that I turned to look at him and saw that he was grinning at me.

"Oh, um. I still like to make connections, you know, between the human couples. That one's a grandmother, that one's a wife, that one's a brother. That sort of thing. Makes my thirst behave itself." I said lowly.

He smiled again and shook his head. "Amazing as ever." He whispered, pulling my hand across the table into his. "Would you like to dance Mrs Cullen?"

I shivered when he said my name that way. "I'd love to." I wanted to call him Mr Cullen, as we had those first few delicious weeks of being married. But it didn't feel like the right time to play that game, yet.

He pulled me out of my chair and led us to the floor. He held my hand firmly and pulled me tight up against his chest. He felt so good, so warm. His scent flooded my mouth and nose as he began to lead me around the floor.

His eyes never left mine as he moved us through the moves. The music was slow, silky, whatever this dance was we were doing it fit the music perfectly. Edward moved as though he was made of smoke. His body melded with mine, his arm clamped around my waist, resting in the small of my back. My hand rested at the nape of his neck, so very close to his hair. I wanted to run my fingers through it, to remember the feel of it. My other hand was in his, held tight at shoulder height.

When the song ended he stepped away from me slightly. He bowed at his waist and came up smiling. "You dance beautifully Mrs Cullen." He said as the other couples began to clap the band.

I curtsied and smiled widely, "Why thank you Mr Cullen." I let the name slip out and quickly covered my mouth with my hand at the last second.

His face clouded over. He stepped back towards me and took my hand in his once again. His arm went around my waist and he pulled me up against him roughly. As the first beats of the next song rang out he bent and kissed me at the juncture between my shoulder and my neck. "I'm your Mr Cullen and you're my Mrs Cullen. Nothing's changed Isabella." He growled.

And then we were off around the floor once again.

**EPOV**

I hadn't meant to be rough with her but the way she'd covered her mouth when she'd called me Mr Cullen, as though she was sorry she'd said it, or it had slipped out without her wanting it to, had raised my hackles.

I was her fucking husband. She was my wife. I meant what I'd said. Nothing had changed.

I took a deep breath from her hair and rallied my self control. I didn't want tonight to descend into the shambles Saturday night had. Tonight I was determined to have a proper date with her.

"Please forgive me Bella. I didn't mean to sound so gruff." I whispered against her ear, making her shiver deliciously. "You do feel divine in my arms, love."

She allowed a tiny to moan come out of her mouth and I smiled over her head. Only an idiot wouldn't realise we wanted each other. She was pressed up against me from her knees to her breasts and everywhere in between made me tingle with excitement at the very thought of it.

I willed my erection to stay at half mast because she'd notice it easily the way we were touching. I didn't want that between us, pardon the pun. Our sexual chemistry was never an issue, it was never going to be either. Our emotional life however, needed work.

When the music came to its logical conclusion we parted once again and clapped for a few moments to show the band our appreciation. "Let's get a drink." I held her chair for her and went to the bar to buy us a drink to complete the illusion that we were just a regular human couple enjoying a night out.

I placed her drink on a paper coaster in front of her. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome." I took my seat and we began the pretence of drinking. The mental thoughts here were very calm, relaxed. The other couples weren't interested in us at all, they were happy to keep to themselves and just enjoy their evening with their partners. It was such a relief from high school dances and nightclubs where there was so much competition, so much angst, and so many expectations.

"What are you thinking?" Bella asked me with a grin, echoing my prior question.

"I was thinking how peaceful it is in here. Sure, there are a hundred different thoughts swirling around, but they aren't directed at me, or you, or us, for a change. It's nice, to just be." I told her honestly.

She tilted her head to the side and stared at me as though she was seeing me for the first time. Maybe she was. I was different.

"You're so beautiful." She whispered.

My entire body tensed at the sound of her voice. It was as though I was waiting for the 'but' at the end of her statement. It never came. Instead she smiled and reached across the table for my hand. I gave it to her willingly and sighed as she strummed her thumb across the back of my fingers. "You're exquisite." I whispered in return.

"Ladies choice." Boomed the band leader. "So ladies, take your time and find the one man you couldn't possibly contemplate going home without having danced with tonight." He turned and faced his band and gave them the count in.

Bella shoved her glass to the edge of the table and rose from her seat. She came to my side of the table and stood before me, hand out stretched. "You're the only man I've ever wanted to dance with Edward. May I have this dance Mr Cullen?" She asked sweetly.

I put my hand in hers and got to my feet. I held our hands between us for a long moment, staring down into her eyes. "You are the only woman I've ever wanted to dance with Bella. It would be my pleasure." I bought her hand to my lips and kissed her fingers.

'_They're so sweet together, obviously newlyweds.' _The thought came to my mind as Bella led me onto the floor and took me, once again, into her arms. _'So in love.' _The same mental voice thought as we began our dance.

I bent slightly so that my lips were at her ear, I felt her shiver as my breath caressed her skin. Her hand at my nape tightened minutely and the one clasped in mine trembled ever so slightly. "You are my only everything Isabella." I said cryptically, knowing she wouldn't understand it. "I've only ever wanted to dance with you, just you." I kissed the shell of her ear never faltering within the dance. "I've only ever loved you, just you." Another kiss, another shiver. "I've only ever wanted to be touched by you, just you." A softer kiss just below her ear earned me a shudder that rippled from her feet to the top of her head and a soft outrush of her warm breath against my throat. "I've only ever wanted to make love with you, just you." I told her as I sucked her earlobe into my mouth.

I pulled away from her and resumed the dance as it was intended to be danced. She never said a word but her body told me what she couldn't, or wouldn't, say. Her eyes were hooded and glazed. Her tongue darted out to lick her bottom lip twice in the minute between when I placed the final kiss to when the music came to its end. She blinked rapidly, sighed once almost inaudibly and then she turned her face up to mine. She let go of my hand and used the hand at my nape to pull my face closer to hers. "Thank you for the dance Edward." She purred at the corner of my mouth. She shifted slightly to her left and let her lips brush mine softly.

And then she was gone. Away to the table to collect her purse. The music was finished, the band was packing up, people were coming off the dance floor and collecting their things. Some had already left, there was a line at the coat check. It was just me standing at the edge of the dance floor watching my wife preparing to leave. I don't know what I expected from her after I'd kissed her and told her all those things, but 'thank you for the dance Edward' didn't really enter into the scope of what I'd imagined. An 'I love you too' or maybe an 'oh god yes take me home and make love to me and make me forget all this time we've been stupidly apart' might have been nice too. I'd have settled for 'you smell good'.

I was an idiot.

**BPOV**

He was an idiot.

I knew all the things he was whispering to me were heartfelt. Shit, I felt them too, I felt exactly the same. I'd never wanted anything, from anyone, other than Edward. And of course I wanted him. I desperately wanted him. The state of my panties could attest to that. Edward's arousal pressed against my stomach just now told me just how much he wanted me. But wanting each other wasn't enough anymore. It might have been at the beginning, but not now.

I didn't need a lover anymore, I needed a husband. A partner. Someone to share with. Share my shit with actually.

It was time Edward knew that about me. That things had shifted for me. I'd grown up.

I just hoped he'd be able to grow up with me or we were well and truly broken.

I stood at the table and waited for him to snap out of whatever he was dealing with as he stood there, frozen to the spot, where I'd left him. The humans would begin to notice him shortly. If he didn't move I'd have to collect him myself. I put my purse under my arm and went to stand beside him. I slid my hand into the pocket of his trousers to retrieve the coat check and encountered the cold sting of metal. Cold, hard and round. He snapped out of his daydream pretty fast after that. He hissed and his movement was a blur as he reached for my arm. His hand gripped my wrist tightly. Had I been human my wrist would've snapped instantly. It would never be painful to be gripped like that again but I could tell that if he'd been able to hurt me right now he would have.

"Let it go." He hissed.

I let it go. We stood there staring at each other for a long moment. My hand in his trousers pocket, his fingers wrapped around my wrist almost dangerously. "Let me go Edward." I whispered softly. I wasn't frightened but neither was I particularly comfortable being manhandled in the middle of a church hall whilst surrounded by tasty humans. He let my wrist go and I withdrew my hand from his pocket. I resisted the urge to look down at my arm. I knew there would be no mark, no disfigurement of any kind, but habit made me want to check. To distract myself from the violence I saw in his eyes I straightened my skirt and brushed a hand through my hair as human women did. "I'll wait at the car." I made my way out into the dark parking lot and stood beside the Z4 patiently, as the other women around me were.

A grey haired lady came towards me and I gulped in the cool night air, knowing she was about to speak to me. "You and your husband danced so beautifully dear, please come again?" She asked.

"We will. Thank you." I nodded weakly.

She kept moving and went to a car a few spaces down. Her equally grey haired partner, probably husband, ushered her thoughtfully into the passenger seat.

Edward came out soon after, carrying both our coats. He pressed the central locking button and when the door was unlocked he reached past me and opened it. I slid into the seat and he placed my folded coat on my lap while I buckled my seat belt. He said nothing.

Instead of starting the car he sat silently in the driver's seat. He put both his hands on the wheel as though he was already driving and then he lowered his head onto the backs of his hands. "I'm sorry Bella." He whispered. "I'm just so fucking sorry."

"For what exactly Edward?" I asked tersely.

He lifted his head and turned to face me. "For everything. All of it. For hurting your arm just now. For making you feel as though you don't want to be a Cullen anymore." He put his hand into his pocket and withdrew the gold hoop I'd felt there.

"It's my crest." I whispered in shock. "Why do you have that?"

"I've had it with me since the day you abandoned it." He mumbled. "I hate the idea of you not wearing it. I hate seeing your arm without it there. But what I hate most is that even though you don't want to be my wife right now, you don't want to be a Cullen either." He scrubbed at his face with his hand and held the bangle out to me. "If you're never going to truly be my wife again please, please I'm begging, please still be a Cullen. You'll need them, the family, in the years to come. You will. I know how it feels to be alone, truly alone. You'll need them. You might not want to be Mrs Edward Cullen but you'll need to be a Cullen again one day. Take it. It's yours. No matter what happens between us." He shoved it at me forcefully and I reached out a tentative hand, holding it palm up so he could drop it.

"I am your wife." I sobbed. "I am your wife Edward." It felt, to me at least, as though he were saying goodbye to me. It sounded so final. As though he'd given up. He was making contingency plans for me. Telling me I'd need the families support even if we weren't together anymore. "I am your wife god damn it!" I bellowed in panic. "I don't need the fucking family Edward. I need my husband." I was really yelling now. I looked out the window of the car and saw that the parking lot was totally silent. We were the only ones there. I shucked off the seatbelt and opened the door.

The night air hit me fully and I gulped it down to wash Edward's scent out of my mouth and nose. It was distracting and I felt the need to yell some more, I didn't need to be put off by the allure of his scent.

I moved to the back of the car and met him there. His nostrils were flared and his eyes were pitch black. He was as ready for this inevitable fight as I was.

I poked him once in the chest and then I let him have it. "I don't need a lover anymore Edward. I need an equal. I need a mate. I need someone who won't hide things from me to protect me, I need someone who's straight with me and tells me that the bogey man is coming for me. I need someone who's going to stand _beside_ me and fight, not shove me behind him and fight alone." I spat this into his gaping face.

I stepped away and took a breath. I stepped up to him once again and poked him again. "And another thing, don't you dare assume that I can't cope on my own. I am coping on my own. Nessa's fine. I'm fine. I don't doubt that at some point, if you slink away and hide like you usually do, that I might need the family. Everyone needs their family at some point. But I can do this Edward. I can be her mother and I can protect her, and Seth if I have to. I might not _want_ to do this alone, but I will. It would be better to do it alone than to live a lie with you."

I saw him wince as I said the last part and for the first time in a long time I thought he might actually have listened, not just heard me.

I was proud of myself. I'd said all I wanted to say without sobbing once. Without choking and without caving. Oh I was ready to cave. Ready to just step into his arms and let him make me feel better any way he could think of. But that wouldn't change anything.

Just when I thought he was going to stay silent he reached for me. He put his hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. "You're right." He said it so softly I thought I'd imagined it.

I laughed. The situation had been so tense, so much anger and hurt between us that when he said such a simple thing I erupted in laughter. "Okay Edward, I'm right. Want to share which part I'm right about?"

He smiled. Really smiled. Right to his eyes. "All of it. You're right and I've known it all along I just didn't know how to approach the subject."

I needed to be clear now. I needed, while I had this chance and he was willing to listen, to say my part. I had to demand, outright, what I wanted from him so we'd be clear. "I don't want half measures Edward. I want a husband. I want a mate. I want an equal. If you can't give me that say so now, we'll go our separate ways and we can get on with raising Nessa." I was being selfish and demanding and I wasn't about to apologize for it. "Before you answer I need to say one thing more." I pulled out of his hold and stepped backwards. "Six months ago we stood in front of the preacher and vowed just that. For better or worse. I meant it. I really did. I knew that if things got tough I'd fight for you, for us. I knew that if something came for us I'd fight, I'd stand beside you and fight. You need to think now whether you meant it when you said 'I do' Edward. I need to know if you meant it, if you're capable of giving me what I need."

He licked his bottom lip and began shaking his head. I clutched my stomach and held on tightly. He was going to tell me no!

**EPOV**

Even as I saw her clutching at her stomach I couldn't prevent myself from shaking my head. She'd misunderstood why and was ready to flee.

"No Bella. I don't need to think about what you've said. I already know. It might have taken me a while to believe it, but I know it now. I meant it. I really did. But I made a mistake. Okay I made a shit load of mistakes this past few months, I admit that. But that's what they were, mistakes. I won't do it again. I won't hide. I won't pretend. I won't lie to you, ever, no matter what. I can't go through this again. I can't spend my days wondering how to get you back and my nights craving you, knowing you don't want me. I can't do it. I won't do it." I ran a hand through my hair and began pacing in front of her. "I want you to come home. I want you to let me prove to you that I am the kind of man you need. That I can grow with you. That I can protect you and let you protect me. Let me show you. Please. I'll get down on my knees and beg you if that's what it takes." I pled.

She leant back against the car and took in a deep breath. At last she let her stomach go and let her hands fall to her sides. In her left hand she held her Cullen crest. She held it out in front of her as though she was going to give it back to me and my heart clenched in pain.

"If I let you put this back onto my arm Edward I want you to know it is the last time, the very last time, that I'll tolerate you lying to me. If you make me your wife again, a Cullen again, I expect to be told what's going on. No exceptions. I want your vote to always be yes, no matter what." She hissed. She was far from conceding, a long way off forgiving and an even longer way off from where we once were. But she was willing to try.

"I swear Bella, if you let me put that back onto your arm I'll never betray you again. I'll tell you everything, no matter what the consequences. I swear it Bella. Give me a chance." I begged. I took the bangle from her and looked down at it solemnly.

She held her arm out towards me. "I love you Edward. Please, don't break my heart."

I slipped the bangle over her fingers and let it settle at her wrist. "I love you Bella. Please, let me prove how much."

She stepped into my embrace and for the first time in nearly a month I felt almost whole.

**BPOV**

I held onto him as tightly as I could.

I felt the relief wash over me as he kissed my hair, murmured his thanks, told me he loved me, promised to do better.

We were a long way from being okay but we'd come to an understanding, at the very least.

I hoped he'd listened to me, really listened, and that he'd believed me when I said it was the last time I'd tolerate lies. I'd meant every word. No matter how much it would hurt, if I found myself in this situation again I'd leave permanently.

I knew I was partly to blame for the situation. Sure, he'd lied and kept me in the dark but I'd never pressed him, never insisted on being told. Even when I'd overheard, or guessed it for myself I didn't press him. That had been dumb. I wouldn't make that mistake again either.

I lifted my chin and stared into his relieved eyes. I smiled a little and got up onto my toes. I kissed him very softly on his lips and felt him shudder. "Hey, that's my trick." I giggled and kissed him again.

He threaded his hands into my hair and pulled me close. His tongue was insistent, demanding as it pushed past my lips. The low rumbling purr from his throat set me on fire. I wound my hands around him and pulled him tightly to me, hard up against me. He walked us backwards until I could feel the cold hard steel of the car at my back and the hot hard steel of his erection in front of me.

I moaned long and loud into his mouth when he pushed his knee between mine and pinned me to the car.

He let one hand slide down my shoulder, over my arm and to my hip. He splayed his fingers and caressed my skin at the bottom edge of my blouse. I moaned again. He growled in response.

I couldn't get enough of his taste. His venom was strong from our fight, his natural reaction to stress. I lapped at his tongue and revelled in his taste. He ground himself into me, pressing me harder and harder against the car. It was so low to the ground that I soon found myself half lying across the trunk, Edward covering me with his body, holding me tightly.

I was about to suggest we get into the car when his pocket began to ring and vibrate.

I was about to say ignore it when I heard the same sound coming from my purse in the front seat.

My eyes flew open when his did. Both phones at exactly the same time? Something was wrong.

He let me go and had his phone in his hand before I had gotten to the door to find my purse.

"What is it?" He barked. "What? How can that be? When? Twenty minutes...no, don't take her there...twenty minutes. Keep her with you, we'll be home in twenty minutes." He snapped the phone shut before I even had time to see who my missed call was from. He strode to where I stood, the door open. "Get in." He pushed me down into the seat and slammed the door behind me.

He was a blur as he came to the driver's side. "What's going on?" I asked as he slid the car into reverse and spun us out of the parking space.

Once we were out onto the street proper he took my hand in his across the console. "Full disclosure." He muttered. "It's Nessa. She's ill. She's been vomiting and she's saying her tummy hurts." He cringed.

"Oh god." I stammered.

"Carlisle's got her, she'll be fine, I promise Bella. He's good at what he does." He nodded firmly.

I nodded in reply and wondered what could've made her sick. "Edward, how can she vomit? She only has blood, like us. We don't vomit." I was rambling, ideas tumbling out of my mouth without thought.

"I know, love. That was my first thought too. We'll find out in a few minutes." He nodded to the sign that said Forks 12 miles. He was flying, really flying.

As soon as we hit the foyer Esme flew to my side. "She's in his study." She said.

Edward took my hand and we ran up the stairs as fast as we could go, which was pretty fast. Edward flung the door aside, making it slam back onto itself with a loud bang. We stormed into the room and saw Nessa lying pale and drawn on the sofa, Carlisle hovering over her.

She was asleep. Her little belly rising and falling steadily. I threw myself down beside her and scooped her up into my arms. I covered her with kisses and told her how much I loved her over and over. She felt hot, really hot. "What's wrong with her?" I asked Carlisle.

"Tell us." Edward growled.

Carlisle got to his feet and went around behind his desk. I looked from Edward to Carlisle and back again. Carlisle began to smile. "She ate every single chocolate in the box you sent Bella. Then she threw every single one of them up onto my favourite armchair in our suite."

I could hear Emmett laughing even before what Carlisle said had even sunk into my brain.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you are enjoying the ride. If you aren't, please review all the same, I like to know where the audience thinks I've gone wrong. **


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30 – Second Chances

30.

**EPOV**

I stood beside my wife and watched our baby daughter sleep. The relief I'd felt when Carlisle had told us what the problem was had floored me. I'd fallen aside, knocking a globe off the console table just inside the door of Carlisle's study.

My father had flown around his desk and taken me by the elbow and held me steady until I was able to stand under my own steam. My eyes never left Bella and Nessa.

Now we both stood over her bed and watched her sleep. Her chest rose and fell as it should. Her pink lips quivered as she breathed and I'd never heard a sound more beautiful than her little tummy rumbling.

Bella tugged on my hand and led me out of the nursery. It wouldn't be a nursery for much longer, Nessa was growing so fast. She had already outgrown her crib and the furnishings and decor in the room Emmett had built her were fast becoming too young for her.

I let Bella bring me to the sofa in our suite and I collapsed into the seat beside her once she was seated. She slid across to me and put her head on my shoulder. My hand was still clasped in hers.

"Are you alright?" She whispered.

"Yeah. Yeah. I think I am. Are you?"

She huffed, "Yeah, I think I am."

I let her hand go and slid my arm around her shoulders. I kissed her lightly on the top of her head and put my other hand back into hers in my lap. "Hell of a day huh?"

"Hell of a day." She agreed.

We sat like that for a long, long time. The house was quiet but the thoughts inside it were not.

Esme was worried because we were so quiet, she thought we'd slipped back into 'not speaking' and she was trying to work out a way to force us to begin.

Rose was busy plotting ways to kill me if I fucked this up. 'This' being the second chance Alice had already informed them that I'd been given.

Emmett was head down ass up with Jasper working on a way to warn Newton off without getting caught by Esme or busted by Charlie. So far the only thing they could come up with was to actually, physically, glue him into his house. As in hold him down while they superglued him to the floor. Jasper was willing to allow him access to running water at least; Emmett wasn't inclined to be so generous. I was going to praise Jasper for being so humane right up until the point where I saw in his thoughts that the running water he'd allow access to was the douches own filthy toilet bowl. They'd need to be reined in. I'd do it eventually. Possibly. Maybe.

Carlisle was busy making notes in Renesmee's file. He made copious notes about her experience tonight and how she had described her pain. From his thoughts I learned that the poor little thing had been in agony with stomach cramps half the day. She hadn't wanted to tell Bella about it because she thought she'd be forced to eat 'icky' human food all the time if she admitted she'd enjoyed the taste of the chocolate. She'd wailed at her grandparents – the instant Bella and I had gone out for the night - not to tell us any of it, but when she actually vomited Carlisle had let Esme convince him to call us. If it hadn't scared the shit out of both of us we'd have laughed about it. Maybe one day we would. But not tonight.

I pulled Bella closer and kissed her head again. She hummed appreciatively but said nothing. I hoped she was as content as I was to just be.

Alice came up to the third floor landing and was toying with the ways she could get my attention. Should she knock? Should she just walk in, she could see the door was open.

"Come on in Alice." I said, making Bella startle. "Sorry love." I murmured against her hair.

Alice came into our suite and sat on the coffee table in front of us. _'It's so good to see you two like this.' _She thought. "You two look cosy. How is she?" She said out loud.

"She's fine." Bella whispered. "She'll have a belly ache for a while though I think."

"I'll bet." Alice agreed. "I just wanted to let you know that I see the two of you in here, shell shocked again, in a weeks time. I can't see what she's eaten of course, I can only see you two talking about how to get her to eat more normally instead of gorging herself." She giggled.

Bella sat up abruptly. "Oh jeez." She grumbled. "I just knew this was going to happen." She shifted in her seat and turned to face me. "I caught her eating the toothpaste in the bath on Sunday. Not just licking it, but eating it from the tube." She screwed up her face. "She's got nobody to watch eat. Only Seth and that's not exactly normal, that boy would eat the furniture if I let him."

Alice was giggling but I didn't think it was funny. "Jesus, what do we do about it? She insists the idea of human food is gross to her, she still calls it icky." I asked Bella.

"I might have an idea, if you're interested?" Alice asked carefully. She was being mindful that we were Nessa's parents, I could've hugged her for it.

"Shoot." Bella said.

"Well, what if Nessa went to the day-care centre with Renee for a few hours now and then? We'd have to coach her on how to behave like a human child, but she's so smart she won't take long to work it out. While she was there she'd come into contact with all sorts of human food, she's bound to find something she likes." Alice suggested.

I looked to Bella. "What do you think, love?" I asked.

"I think it's a great idea. But I'd have to ask Renee first. She might not want a half vampire baby hanging about with the human ones." She grimaced.

Alice laughed. "Huh! Those stupid human babies do nothing but eat poop and whine. They'd do well to spend some time with our Nessa." She scoffed.

"Fucking snob. Sorry Esme." Bella laughed.

"I am too." Alice stuck her tongue out and flounced out of the room convinced she'd done her good deed for the decade.

**BPOV**

Edward hadn't offered an opinion on Alice' idea. That worried me. In the interest of full disclosure and our new treaty to be honest, I asked him about it. "Are you okay with Nessa going to day-care with Renee?"

"I think it's a fantastic idea. I want her to be able to interact with other children. Whilst she's not unique she is the only hybrid I know of in America, she's going to need friends that are human if she is going to stand a chance to grow up even partly normal." He shrugged.

"You could've said that when Alice asked what we thought." I said, careful to make it sound like an observation not an accusation.

"I guess I could've. But Nessa is with you at the moment, I gave up my right to make choices for her when I lied to you." He said matter of factly.

"You'll never lose that right Edward. You're her father, nothing will ever change that, no matter what happens with you and me." I put my head back onto his shoulder and put his hand in mine again. I had been comfortable and content for the first time in months before Alice had come in, I wasn't going to give that up just because we'd decided to talk instead of being quiet.

"I appreciate that." He said, kissing the top of my hair again. "But she lives with you Bella. You are her guardian at the moment, her main care giver. I haven't shared with you for months, I don't expect you to share with me simply because you've said you will give me another chance."

I sighed. "Edward, listen to me. This won't work if we play games like that. The chance I am giving you isn't about who was right and who was wrong. It isn't about revenge or demands. It's about sharing and being there for each other and always being able to tell each other what we want and what we need. I know it won't happen overnight, but you should stop thinking about this in terms of your own guilt."

I felt his shoulders relax and then he was pulling me closer. I was almost sitting in his lap. "You're so good at this Bella. I should've listened to you from the start." He kissed my cheek and let me slide back into my own seat. "So, I think it's a great idea that Nessa spends time at the kinder."

"Good. Then we are agreed." I said. "I have a request to make." I announced out of the blue.

"Ask and ye shall have." He chuckled.

"Whatever hours Nessa spends with Renee you and I spend alone. Dating." I giggled.

"Done." He didn't hesitate. "I fucking love dating my wife." He whispered conspiratorially. "And I'm not apologizing to Esme for that one." He turned to face me and lifted my chin with his fingers. And then he was kissing me. Long and languorous and soft. It was like the brush of a feather across my lips. And then he chortled, making his lips vibrate against mine.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"Nessa. She's awake. She's wondering if I'm kissing my name and how to sneak past us and go to Esme so she doesn't get scolded for eating the chocolates."

"Oh god. How embarrassing. Busted by my own daughter." I giggled.

"I wasn't kissing my name though." He pouted. "I don't suppose...no...I guess not...too soon...I get it." He mumbled, getting to his feet. "I'll go and get her."

He bought her to me and put her into my lap. She was all teeth, smiling widely hoping to charm her way out of whatever trouble she was in. "You can put those teeth away Nessa, you've been a naughty girl." I admonished.

She blinked rapidly and her eyes filled with tears. Edward was sitting on the coffee table facing me, but behind Nessa's back. He was pouting as much as she was as I chastised her. "They smelled good." She whimpered.

"I know they did honey, and you aren't in trouble for liking the way they tasted. You're in strife for eating them all at once, and making yourself sick and not telling mommy or daddy." I told her sternly.

Her tears spilled over her cheeks and she ducked her head. "I wanted them." She sobbed.

"I know you did sweetie. They do taste good, don't they?" I said conspiratorially. "And you can have one, now and then, but you need to ask first." I told her.

Edward pulled a perfect white linen handkerchief out of his trousers pocket and handed it to me over her shoulder. I smiled at him and used it to wipe her tears and her nose.

Edward moved to sit beside me on the sofa and Nessa looked up at him through her wet lashes. God she was a devil. She was trying her best to charm him too. But, like me, he was having none of it. "Nessa, those chocolates were for mommy. And even though she wasn't going to eat them it wasn't nice for you to have them without asking, was it?" He asked her tersely.

When she realized she'd get no joy from charming Edward either she sniffed and sat up straighter. "No daddy." She mumbled. "Sorry mommy."

I ran a hand over her curls and kissed her forehead. "Okay, thank you for saying sorry. Now, we know you don't like icky human food, but you can't keep eating these strange things if you can't at least try the normal things. You won't be able to go to school if you can't eat human food Nessa, at least a few basic things anyway." I told her, trying to be quite serious so she'd see how important this all was. She nodded and hung on my every word. At the mention of school she perked right up. I saw my chance and took it. "Big girls who go to big school eat fruit and sandwiches and cakes. Not boxes of chocolates and toothpaste. But, good girls who try other foods, even if they don't like them in the end, get to have a chocolate now and then."

"Seth eats human food, and he goes to big school." Edward tried his hand at parental bribery and came up trumps.

"Sethy eats lots of food!" She shouted happily. "I can eat human food daddy. Then I can go to school with you and mommy and Sethy!" she clapped her little hands and smiled widely. It was that simple for her. School and Seth were important to her, if she had to try human food in order to go to school with Seth then she would.

"Sethy eats lots of food." I mumbled sarcastically to Edward. "I'll talk to Renee tomorrow and organise something."

"I think that's a good idea." He rolled his eyes at Nessa who was now chomping happily on his thumb.

"I think I'll take her home now. A nice bath and then a spot of hunting for us both, I think." I said to Nessa who just blinked her big brown eyes at me. "Would you like to join us later for a spot of hunting daddy?" I asked Edward who was scowling at me menacingly. "What?" I asked.

"You're going 'home'?" He asked, using his free hand to do one half of the quotation marks.

"I am." I said firmly. I had no intention of abandoning my apartment just because I'd agreed to give him a second chance. Sorry doesn't fix everything instantly.

"Okay." He whispered. "I guess I should've known that, huh?" He whispered again.

"We didn't get that far, did we?" I said quietly, leaning over towards him again. "How about I take Nessa home for a bath and some clean clothes, I could use a shower myself. Then you come with the others before work and school. We'll hunt a little and then I plan on going to the grocery store to get some food in for this little monkey here. You could come too and when she goes for her nap this afternoon we could talk some more?" I asked hopefully.

**EPOV**

How could I say no to that offer? It was more contact with them than I'd had in weeks. Of course I was going to take the carrot she dangled. Hell, I took it with both hands!

After I'd said goodbye to them both in the driveway I flew upstairs and showered, shaved and changed my clothes. I tidied Nessa's nursery, the bathroom and the suite. I put a load of washing on and laughed good naturedly when Emmett teased me for going all metro sexual.

I played for an hour and a half, loving the way the music I'd written the day before developed under my hands now my mood had changed.

When the clock struck eight I was already in the Aston, with the engine running, tapping my foot impatiently when the others traipsed out the door leisurely. In the end I left them there and went on ahead.

Seth was already at the flat when I arrived and although our relationship had been somewhat strained since I'd almost let him kill me, he greeted me warmly. I offered him my fist and he smiled widely as he bumped me in return.

Nessa was sitting up at the kitchen table watching Seth finish his homework. She kissed me and put her hand to my chin to show me the few hours in between her leaving the big house and me arriving just then. There wasn't much to see. Just the details of her bath – no toothpaste eating this time I noticed with a chuckle – and Bella dressing her. They'd read a little bit of James and the Giant Peach while they waited for everyone to arrive.

When they did the little apartment got very loud very fast.

I stood with Bella up against the kitchen counter and watched as Nessa was fawned over by her aunts and uncles and Seth.

Bella snaked her hand into mine at my back and gave it a little squeeze. I smiled, loving the tiny little pieces of offered physical contact she was willing to grant me. Of course my dick just wanted to tell everyone to get the fuck out, and to take the baby with them, so I could have her right there on the kitchen counter. But my brain knew better and kept my knob in check, for once.

I will admit to getting a little more excited as the first murmurs of 'we're going to be late if we don't leave now' began to creep into the conversations. Once they had all been seen off at the door and into various vehicles we were free to hunt as a family, for the first time. I'd hunted with Bella many times and a couple of times now with Nessa, but never as a trio.

I was nervous. I was excited. I was breathless from watching the two of them run for pleasure. Nessa was completely oblivious to her surroundings when she was with Bella in the forest. She completely trusted her mother to keep a careful watch on her, believed totally that while she fed she was not only being watched but being protected by her mother. I watched, fascinated, as my daughter sat on the wet grass feeding from a small roe deer while her thoughts remained on her mother's whereabouts. Nessa had taken a single look towards where Bella stood guard and once she was certain Bella was on alert she felt free to indulge her hunger completely.

Bella, for her part, did actually stand guard.

She positioned herself, whether consciously or subconsciously, downwind of the entrance to the little clearing. If anything approached she'd smell it and see it in enough time to get to Nessa and remove her from the threat. Bella's eyes scanned the periphery of the clearing over and over as Nessa fed. Bella didn't recover from her defensive crouch until Nessa had tucked the carcass away under a bush and had returned to where her mother stood.

Bella patted Nessa on the head and then asked her to please sit at the base of a nearby tree and wait for mommy to feed. This was a well rehearsed ritual. Bella was efficient, resourceful and utterly lethal. She took her prey down decisively, stealthily and always with one eye trained on Nessa who sat quietly and motionlessly right where Bella asked her to sit. While Bella fed from the beast she kept her eyes on Nessa's position and then mine. I wasn't thirsty so I wasn't in any dire need to feed myself, but I couldn't take my eyes off my girls as they acted out their daily – for Nessa, now every third day for Bella – routine.

When Bella's animal had given its last she tucked it under a bush a few feet away from Nessa's and with one last sniff at her surroundings and a good long look around the area she ran to Nessa and pulled her up onto her hip.

"All set." She told me.

"I can see that. That was very impressive ladies." I told them honestly.

"I learned from the best." Bella smiled and put her hand in mine. "Come on, we've got shopping to do today."

Halfway back to the apartment block Nessa wriggled free from Bella and ran on ahead. Every few hundred feet she stopped and made sure we were still following but other than that she ran for pleasure. Bella and I didn't exactly stroll but we weren't running flat out either. To any humans watching it would've seemed like we were in training for a sprint, but for us it was a jog at best.

When we got back to the apartment Bella changed Nessa's clothes again, seeing as she still hadn't mastered the art of a clean kill, and then we were off to the grocery store.

**BPOV**

I had never felt so human as I did when I was with Edward and Renesmee in the grocery store. We were like any other young family doing their weekly shop.

Nessa sat in the top of the shopping cart oohing and aahing over all the interesting things to see and smell as we moved through each aisle.

Edward pushed the cart and only mumbled every now and then about the thoughts of some of our fellow shoppers. He never elaborated on what they were thinking, he only grumbled that it wasn't polite, nice or innocent.

Unfortunately we saw quite a few people we knew. A teacher from the Art department recognised us and stood staring at Nessa for quite a while as we chatted. I had to resurrect the tale that a cousin of mine had passed away leaving me as guardian of the little girl, and for his part Edward played along flawlessly despite my having forgotten to inform him of my story.

Our next encounter was with a nurse from the hospital who knew both Carlisle and Edward quite well. She too marvelled at Nessa's beauty, and at Edward's too, which pissed me off no end. But she was polite and sweet about Nessa as her and Edward made small talk about Carlisle and the busy little hospital.

Edward chuckled at me when she finally went on her way to finish her shopping. "You were jealous." He whispered against my ear, making me shiver.

"I was not." I grumbled.

He pulled me down the aisle a little further away from Nessa and backed me up against the shelving. He hovered over me and growled softly into my ear, "You were and it was so fucking hot I'm about to bust out of my jeans Isabella." He used his teeth to nip at my neck, just once, and I was unable to control the hiss that escaped from between my lips.

He left me there, a panting mess, and returned back to Nessa and the cart with a surreptitious can of beans in his hand. He pushed the cart down the aisle and I joined him as he passed by me. I snuck a furtive glance at the front of his pants and gasped when I saw that he hadn't been lying.

His smug grin told me I'd not been as sneaky as I thought I'd been.

A few aisles along we came to the fresh fruit and vegetables. These didn't smell as bad before they were prepared into meals. They smelled horrible still, but more an earthy smell rather than dirty or muddy. I took Nessa out of the cart and sat her at my hip. The three of us walked along between the massive cardboard crates of fruit.

"These are apples Nessa. Feel how smooth they are." I let her hold one and she sniffed at it before handing it back to me. I handed a couple to Edward who put them into a bag and then into the cart. "This is a pear." I told her and let her feel that too before Edward put some in a bag and tossed them into the cart. "These are grapes, they're fun to squish." I pulled one off a small bunch and put it into her hand. She closed her fist around it and looked up at me with wide eyes. "Go on, you squish it." She did, letting the juice fall through her hand and drip onto the floor.

"Ooh." She giggled.

Edward screwed his nose up at the more pungent aroma given off once she'd squashed it but said nothing.

"Go on, you taste the juice, little one." I suggested.

Nessa looked up at me and then over her shoulder at Edward. She looked down at the sticky mess in her hand then put it to her lips. Her little tongue darted out and lapped at the clear juice. She ran it around her mouth for a few seconds and then she smiled.

I handed the bunch of grapes to Edward who added them to our cart. He took out his handkerchief and wiped the small puddle of juice up off the floor and then we moved on to the other fruits. We couldn't exactly squash every piece of fruit in the shop but once she'd tasted the grape, and enjoyed squishing it according to Edward, she was much keener to attempt things than she had been before.

I added a peach, an apricot, a punnet of strawberries and an orange to the cart before selecting a brown and a white loaf of bread.

I put Nessa back into the cart and went to the cold section to look at the meat. This smelled more appetising to us than anything else in the shop. This Nessa was happy to try. The smell of the blood hit me right in the throat and my hand flew up to cup it as I'd done early on after my change. Edward was right beside me, arm around my waist, holding me tightly to him. He lowered his mouth to my ear, "Choose something and let's go, love. Nessa needs to be away now too." He whispered.

I stole a quick glance at my salivating daughter in the cart and picked the first package of beef I laid my hand on and let Edward steer us towards the counter.

I talked with Nessa – to take her mind off the smell of the blood in the package – while Edward put all our things on the conveyor. The cashier appraised him unabashedly which reminded me of the boy who'd done just that so long ago.

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my lips and Edward looked towards me with a scowl. He remembered too, and what his brothers had ribbed him about for months afterward as well.

With the shopping bags in the trunk and Nessa safely in her car seat we headed back to my hovel – as I now liked to call it. I heard Edward's soft growl as we drove past Mike Newton's house and saw his car in the driveway.

I coughed lightly but he didn't even turn to face me, he just kept staring out the window at the house as we cruised on by. I chuckled softly. He was so possessive.

I carried Nessa and Edward carried the shopping bags into the apartment. It smelled bad again, having been locked up for several hours, but Edward was good about not bringing attention to it.

Nessa trotted off to retrieve a bucket of toys and books from her room and then she spread herself out on the sofa with them. Edward helped me store the food in the refrigerator and the meagre cupboards.

I kept a few pieces of fruit out of the bags and began slicing them and arranging them on a plate for Nessa to try. Edward screwed his nose up at most of it, except for the strawberries. At those he merely grinned smugly.

"Do you like these?" I asked holding one under his nose.

"Not at all." He laughed. He stepped behind me and I felt the length of his body come into contact with mine from knee to shoulder. He twisted my hair into a rope and held it off my neck with one hand. His other hand came around in front of me and cradled my belly in his long fingers. Just as his lips were about to make contact with my skin he whispered "But their smell reminds me of your shampoo. That I like." I groaned when his lips touched me, a long hard shiver shaking my body and making Nessa look up from her book. Edward chuckled and let me go, moving aside and coming to rest against the counter again. "She sees everything, doesn't she?" He laughed.

"She does." I swatted at his arm. "You'll corrupt her just like you did me." I teased.

He pouted and then attempted to look shocked. "I corrupted you, did I?" He asked in mock offence.

I continued cutting the fruit and began to nod. "You sure did. I was as innocent as the day is long before I met you." I teased.

He slid his arm around me again and pulled me to him, "The days are so fucking long Isabella, but the nights are worse." He whispered before biting me playfully at my shoulder again.

I was about to tell him to behave when his cell phone began to ring, effectively saving me from having to tell him to stop flirting with me.

**EPOV**

"Alice." I motioned towards the phone to let Bella know who was calling. "What's up Alice?" I said into the phone.

"Where are you Edward?" She asked.

"At Bella's, why?"

"Can you step outside a moment?" She asked and I began to get the idea that this wasn't a social call necessarily.

"Sure." I said into the phone. "I'll be right back, love." I said to Bella who nodded.

I went out the backdoor and onto the patio. "What gives Alice?" I asked once I was out of earshot near the tree line.

"Some guys are planning to go around to Bella's and ask her out. Newton told them all about your situation." She sounded as though she was trying to stifle a laugh, I didn't think it was funny.

"What do you mean Alice? How many and when?" I demanded down the phone line.

"Three that I can see, Crowley, Yorke and Newton himself, obviously. I don't know when, my visions don't come with a digital time stamp. Jeez." She huffed nastily.

"Shit. Those fuckers. Right. I've had it with that asshat. This time he's gone too far." I hissed.

"Too far? How can it be too far, it's the truth Edward. She is living there without you, she is living there with a child and she is hot. You can't neck the guy – and don't think I haven't seen what you've been planning – for telling his friends the truth." She snapped.

"I fucking can so. You watch me. Thanks for letting me know Alice but if you aren't going to help that makes you part of the problem." I hung up on her and closed the phone angrily.

That bastard!

How dare he advertise the fact that Bella was living alone. How fucking rude was it that he was planning to ask her out? We'd only been separated a month for Christs sake. And she was a mom now, what did he expect her to do, palm the baby off to us so she could go on a date with a prick like him? Not fucking likely.

While I was out of hearing range of Bella I took the chance to contact my brothers.

**BPOV**

I made the decision to ask him about the call the instant he excused himself to take it. If he told me a lie, or tried to cover it up, we were done for good.

This would be our first test.

I sat with Nessa at the kitchen table and watched as she squished the grapes through her fingers before licking the juice off happily. She nibbled a little at the flesh of the grape itself but she mostly liked the juice. It was a good start.

She very pointedly told me she disliked the orange. She said it burned her lips. I assumed she meant that it was too acidic so I told her we didn't need to have those again. I let her throw it away, she loved the way the lid of the bin seemed to 'swallow' the rubbish and spent a few minutes pushing it back and forth.

"More for the bin?" She asked, pointing at the plate of fruit.

"No, this is people food. Not bin food. Come on, climb back up here, try some pear." I held out a slice for her and waited until she had gotten back on her chair before I handed it to her.

She squished it and when no juices came forth she tossed it back on the plate. I handed it to her again and reminded her about big girls and going to school. She licked the pear once and then she broke a small piece off and put it in her mouth. She made a big show of chewing it and then she jumped down from the chair and skipped to the bin and spat it out.

"Yummy." She faked, teeth gleaming, "Can I go to school with Sethy now?" she asked, hands on her hips.

I couldn't help but laugh.

I was still laughing when Edward came back inside. He held his cell phone in one hand and his hair in the other. The scowl on his face was thunderous.

I stared at him, hoping he'd share without me having to ask. I braced myself for his lie, knowing that if he brushed the call off as nothing while he wore that murderous look it was going to rip me apart.

"What's so funny?" He asked, looking first at me then as Nessa.

"I'll tell you later." I said. I looked at the phone in his hand and hoped, once again, that he'd tell me without me having to ask.

"Nessa needs a rest." He squatted down next to Nessa and pulled her up against his chest. He kissed her curls and scooped her up as he stood. He bought her to me and held her while she leant over and kissed me on the cheek. He marched down the hallway with her and I listened as he tucked her into her bed and put Frank at her side. He came back to where I was in the little kitchen and as I was about to stand and demand an answer he pulled me out of my seat and pulled me into his arms just as he had Nessa. He kissed me firmly on the lips and as he drew away he smiled smugly. "I'm married to the high schools hottest girl." He kissed me again, smacking me on the lips loudly. "You are the talk of the town, again." He rolled his eyes.

He let me go and went to stand at the counter.

"What are you on about?" I asked. I was bewildered. He'd come in scowling and I'd assumed that whatever Alice had had to say on the phone was going to remain between them, again. Maybe I was wrong.

He laughed darkly, "The giant douche three doors down has spent his day telling all and sundry that you are living alone now, with a kid, without me. He's rallied the troops Bella. From what Alice just told me they'll begin their campaigns to win you after school today." He laughed again.

"Oh shit." I muttered. I covered my mouth with my hand and giggled.

"No, don't panic. I'm sure you'll find a nice boy to take care of you and Nessa. My money's on Yorke. He's a bit of a nerd but nerds make cash Bella, I think you should consider him." He doubled over laughing and I couldn't help but join in.

**EPOV**

I was so mad, underneath all the laughter and the teasing I was seething.

But I was smart enough to know that if I didn't share Alice' news with Bella I'd be right back where I started, probably further back than before I started. So I put aside my jealousy, my anger and my possessiveness and laughed along with Bella. She couldn't believe that anyone would be interested in her and I spent a leisurely half hour telling her all the things that men – and boys like those idiots at the school – found staggeringly attractive about her.

She fought me every step of the way of course, but by the time our laughter died down she was only shrugging off my teasing, not swatting at me with her fists.

I pulled her down onto the tiny sofa and put my arm around her shoulders. It felt good to be so near, to feel her body heat next to me. I wanted more, of course, but I was also highly aware that we were still feeling our way through the mess I'd made. Slowly, slowly wins the race I had to remind myself.

She ducked her head and rested under my chin. "Thank you for sharing with me Edward." She whispered.

"I meant it, Bella. I won't waste the chance you've given me." I said honestly and put another chaste kiss into her hair.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you have enjoyed this chapter please review and let me know. It keeps me motivated to keep writing. **


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31 – Fierce Protector

31.

**BPOV**

Our teasing was interrupted by another delivery of flowers for me, from Edward. It was a gorgeous crystal vase, as fat as a salad bowl, filled with white violets and a mass of red tulips. I knew there had to be a meaning for such an odd pairing. "They're beautiful." I told Edward as I took them into the kitchen. I didn't need to decant them into a mug this time, the vase was perfect and he knew it judging from the grin on his lips.

I went back to the sofa and snuggled back down into his arms. I kissed him lightly on the cheek, "Thank you." I told him. "What do they mean today?"

He chuckled softly, "Tulips, red tulips in particular, are a lover's declaration. The violets are me asking you to take a chance." He shrugged as though it was nothing. That him having taken the time to research what to send me, so that it would actually mean something, was nothing, a mere trifle. I knew it wasn't. I knew he'd taken great care to send me something meaningful.

I put a finger under his chin and pulled his lips to mine. It was a gentle caress that quickly degenerated into a heavy petting session that fast deteriorated into Edward begging breathlessly for me to stop.

I wanted so much to just beg him to take me. Nessa would sleep for another hour, we were essentially alone, and we were married for fucks sake!

But when I pulled myself away from him I could see the agony etched onto his face. He wanted me as much as I wanted him but he was as right today as he had been in the forest. There was too much unresolved between us and sex had never been the problem in the first place.

I raked a hand through my tousled hair and sighed heavily. "Sorry." I mumbled although he knew full well that I wasn't.

"Don't be." He sighed. He leaned forward and put his head into his hands and sucked in big gulps of air. "I want you." He whispered.

"I want you too." I agreed softly. I sat back on the sofa and closed my eyes. This was so hard.

"We have a lot to talk about before we...when we do that...it's not about the sex for me Bella." He whispered in a fractured voice.

"I know." I agreed. "It's not about the sex for me either. I want to fix the other things before we do that again." I told him and opened my eyes to find him leaning back against the back of the sofa too.

"Come here." He put his arm out and I slid back into his embrace.

We sat on the sofa for another hour. I stayed tucked under his chin; he kept his arm around me and stroked my neck and shoulder with his beautiful fingers while we talked.

We talked for a little while about what Nessa had tried to eat and how best to approach the problem from now on. We decided to call Renee and Edward waited patiently while I explained the problem we were having to my mother. She agreed that it couldn't hurt Nessa to be exposed to human children and agreed to have her, anytime we wanted, with her at the daycare centre.

I arranged to drop her off on the following Monday morning which was actually the first proper day of trading. Renee rang off, excited about having her only grandchild with her during the day, at least for a few hours of a morning.

"What would you like to do while Nessa goes with Renee?" Edward asked me with an adorable smirk on his lips.

I slid forward in my seat on the sofa and turned to face him. I fixed a similar smirk on my face, "I don't know. That's six days away, a lot can happen in six days and who knows, apparently I have some admirers coming over, so maybe I'll have a date with one of them."

The growling started before I finished the sentence but ended when he pushed me back against the sofa again and leapt across my legs. He was straddling me and I was pinned underneath him. It felt so fucking good I almost whimpered out loud!

"You'll not be having a date with anyone other than me, Isabella." He hissed, his eyes alight with mirth. He dipped his head and kissed me roughly on the lips. "Say it." He rasped.

"Say what exactly?" I teased, knowing it would piss him off.

He growled again and I watched his eyes go from his normal rich amber to dark midnight. "Say you'll go on a date with me, only me." He demanded.

"Well, that all depends. What do you want to do with me on this date?" I hedged, licking my lips and loving the low rumbling growl that emanated from his throat.

"I don't know yet, as you said, that's six days away. We might have gone a long, long way to resolving our other issues by then and I might be able to take you bed for the entire time." He raised his eyebrows and I sucked in a huge gulp of air, making him chuckled.

"I see. That's what you spend your time planning is it? Ways to get me back into your bed?" I laughed.

He dipped his head and I felt the sting of his venom as he sunk his teeth into the hollow below my ear. My hands were gripping the front of his shirt involuntarily, pulling him harder against my skin. "Oh god...yes...oh god." I sighed.

He let my flesh go and returned his eyes to mine. His were sparkling with mischief. "No Isabella, not god, but close." And then he lowered his mouth to mine.

**EPOV**

I was enjoying myself even though it was the worst kind of torture to have to hold back with her. We'd both agreed that sex wasn't the issue between us and even though we'd not actually discussed it, we both knew that there would be no actual sex between us until all our other issues were fully resolved.

In a way I was pleased about that.

It was freeing. We'd have to connect on other levels instead of relying on our always close physical bond. I liked that. I think she did too.

But I couldn't deny I was enjoying myself with the little physical contact we were both giving the other permission to have.

I kissed her long and hard. Her fingers held me firmly to her, her hands clutching my shirt tightly. She sighed and writhed, panted and pushed her hips up into my straining erection. We were desperate for each other but both mindful not to go past the point of no return.

That point, for me at least, was very fast approaching.

I softened the kiss and decided to pull out of storage an old favourite tactic of ours. I swiped my tongue one last time across her swollen bottom lip and leapt back off the sofa, off her and away to the far wall. "Wait." I whispered so as not to wake Nessa.

Bella still had her eyes closed but as she opened them she let the most adorable grin spread across her lips. She waggled her finger at me, "I remember that word. I still hate it." She giggled.

I ran a hasty hand through my hair and sighed. "I do too, but you can't deny it works." I echoed her laugh. She nodded towards my waist and I looked down at the tent in my jeans. I winked at her, "Perpetual when I'm near you I'm afraid."

She laughed and wriggled slightly in her seat. "I know how you feel."

I could still smell her so I knew what she was alluding to but I needed to clear my head and told her so. I opened the front door and took a long, hard pull at the cleaner air there.

I smelled Seth.

"Seth." Bella announced. She smelled him too.

"Blood." I announced. "He's bleeding. Stay inside." I closed the door behind me and took a few steps out into the driveway. If he was bleeding badly Bella's thirst would ignite, regardless of how bad he smelled otherwise. Blood was blood and she'd want it.

He came as a human and he was absolutely shaking with rage. His bottom lip was split and his knuckles were cut and bleeding. He was already healing, so that wasn't an issue, but he was so angry the air around him was vibrating with it. He was fighting the urge to phase.

When he was twenty feet from me he stopped his run and eased into a slower jog, by the time he was in front of me he was walking. His face was as black as thunder, his thoughts in disarray. All I could glean from them was that he'd been in a fight and he was angry, so very angry still.

"I nearly killed him." He sagged at my feet.

"Okay." I told him. "But you didn't. That's what matters, son." I still didn't know what the problem was, but it didn't matter. I bent down and put my hand on his heaving back. "We can't go inside while you're bleeding. Come, get in the car."

I put him into the Aston and told him I'd just tell Bella that we were going. He nodded but said nothing. I went back into the little apartment. Bella was standing at the windows watching Seth as he sat shaking in the car.

She was holding her breath.

"Are you alright?" I asked, taking her hand in mine. She nodded. "I don't know what happened yet, his thoughts are jumbled. I'll take him away for a bit, clean him up, and let him heal. It will only take a few hours, when the bleeding is gone can I bring him back here please, he'll need Nessa?" I asked.

She nodded again. She didn't want to speak, it would bring the flavour of his blood to her mouth and nose. She looked up at me with pleading eyes and I knew what she was trying to tell me. "I'll be fine, love. He's not angry with me; he's had a fight with someone else. A few hours, we'll be back. Call if you need me. I'll be here in minutes." I bent and kissed her softly. She nodded again and squeezed my hand.

I went outside and sat in the Aston with Seth. I had two calls to make and then we could leave.

"Esme it's me. I have Seth with me, I need to leave Bella's. She needs watching. Right, thanks, two hours, maybe three. Thanks." I hung up and started the car.

I dialled again while the Aston idled. "Sam, Edward. There's been a fight, it's Seth. I have him. Right. I'll bring him now. No, someone from our side will watch the girls. Done." I snapped the phone shut and spun out of the driveway.

"I want him dead." Seth spat, resting his head in his hands on the dash. "I wanted to kill him. Oh god. I nearly killed him." He mumbled over and over as I sped towards the Rez.

**BPOV**

I'd heard his phone conversations before he left so I knew I was expecting a bodyguard at any time. I busied myself tidying the tiny flat and when Emmett stepped up onto my back porch I was ready for him.

"Come on in Em." I called just as he was about to knock.

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. He looked guilty as hell. "Hi sis." He strode to me and hugged me tightly, kissed my hair and set me back to rights by the counter. "What's going on?" He asked.

I couldn't help but laugh. I laughed my head off. Really snorted. "That's so fucking funny." I laughed again.

He just stood there staring at me blankly. For us normal vampires sometimes things took a little while to sink in, but I knew he'd have no chance at working out what had set me to laughing.

"Okay, something's funny, wanna share?" He asked, staring at me as though I'd lost my mind. His statement only made me laugh harder. It pissed him off. "What the fuck Bell's?"

I pointed at his chest and tried to contain my giggles. After a few more seconds I had calmed enough to try to speak. "You, you're what's so funny." I told him.

He still stared at me blankly. He looked down himself, probably looking to see if he had something on him or something was out of place. There was nothing. His saggy jeans were as saggy as ever, but pristine. His black band t-shirt was stretched tight across his huge muscled bulk, but there was nothing amiss. "Okay, I'll bite, what's the deal?" He scowled at me this time, bared his teeth a little as he did.

"Oh Em, it's just that two months ago it was me begging to be told what was going on and you all ignored me. I can't help it, it's so funny, you standing there all weirded out because you don't know what's going on, asking me to share." I doubled over and began laughing again.

He was a blur as he came towards me. I had no time to prepare before he had me by the waist, walking with me between his huge hands. He plonked me right in the middle of my own living room and then he pulled my arms aside, so they were hanging down beside my body. He leant over and slid his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. I was so stunned I started to struggle. My strength was waning, my newborn status was two thirds over, and Emmett was strong. Really strong.

He must have sensed me struggling because he loosened his grip minutely and began to speak. "I'll never forgive myself for losing that vote. I voted yes. I always voted yes sissy, you have to believe me. I fought with Edward, I warned him what would happen if he lied to you. I told him to tell you, please say you believe me." He rambled on and on for a good five minutes, never letting me get a word in edgewise.

His speech began to slow down and I began to relax in his embrace. He must have felt me slacken my hold because his speech began to change tack. "Ed's been so miserable and I'm not saying he didn't deserve it, but he's in danger of losing his grip. He hardly plays now, which makes the house feel empty. I saw what he went through while you were changing, this is nearly the same. If you're half as lost as he is you're in agony too. But you aren't, are you? You're stronger than him. Jeez girl, you're probably stronger than all of us." He took a deep breath and kissed the top of my head again. "Please say you forgive me?" He choked the words out and I felt the clench of his chest and stomach as he waited for my reply.

I prised myself away from his chest just far enough to make myself heard. "I'll forgive you Emmett if you swear you'll never stop fighting for me. If you can promise that you'll always vote yes, and I heard you vote yes more than once by the way, I'll forgive you for not telling me when you should have."

"Done! God yes. Of course I can swear to that." He let me go then. I stepped back a little and looked up into his sad eyes. "I really am so very sorry, you'll never know how bad I felt when I was told you'd left him."

"It's okay Em, we're working it out." I told the relieved mountain of man that stood in front of me with his head bowed.

"Good. Good." He mumbled. "Now, tell me why the fuck I've been called to watch you in the middle of the day when Eddie-the-pale-white-knight was supposed to be here?"

"Eddie-the-pale-white-knight?" I snorted. "That's a good one." I laughed. "I don't know too much myself yet Em. Seth came, he was bleeding and Edward said he'd been in a fight. He's taken him to the Rez to heal, and then he'll bring him back here to see Nessa. Other than that I have no idea what's going on. I was going to call Alice, even though she can't see Seth she'd have heard by now if whatever went on happened at the school."

"Good idea. You do that I'll ring the White Knight." He smirked. Something told me, now that I'd laughed at his new nickname for Edward that it might hang around a bit longer. Poor Eddie.

I dialled Alice, he dialled Edward. Alice picked up and was speaking before I even had time to say hello. "They've just put Newton in an ambulance. I didn't see anything, of course, but the gossip mill tells me he had the shit kicked out of him by Seth for a conversation that was overheard in the cafeteria. I don't know anything else yet, do you?" She finally paused long enough for me to speak.

"No, only that Seth was hurt, but Edward said he was already healing. He's been taken to the Rez." I told her.

"Good. There's only half an hour left of classes so we'll swing by your place after that. Is someone with you if Edward isn't?" She asked.

"It kills you that you can't see me, doesn't it?" I asked. It was rhetorical though, I already knew she hated it. "Emmett's here with me, we'll see you when schools done. Say hi to Ange and Ben for me please." I hung up at the same time Emmett did. "Seth beat Newton up." I told him.

"Seth beat the hell outta the douche!" Emmett chortled at the same time I'd said my news.

We both laughed although we shouldn't have. Seth could've killed him. Still we laughed.

"Well, whatever Mike said Seth took offence at and the douche has paid the price." Emmett mused.

"Alice said Seth overheard a conversation Mike was having and it just went from there. What has Edward learned?" I asked.

"Not much more than that. Just that it was Mike he fought with, but by all accounts it was Seth who was fighting and Mike that was lying on the ground screaming, not much fighting from his behalf." Emmett chuckled.

"I wonder what will happen to Seth though? He's already been in trouble for fighting at school once, I hope he doesn't get expelled."

"Jeez, if he does I'll tutor the kid myself, he's done me a huge favour." Emmett boomed his laughter, waking Nessa. "Oh shit, sorry Bell's."

"It's okay, she was bound to wake up soon anyway. Before I go and get her, tell me why Seth's done you a favour?" I could guess, but I wanted to hear him say it.

He put hand to the back of his neck and squinted as though he was deciding whether or not to tell me. "Well, Eddie might have suggested that Mike was being a pain and that we, me and Jaz, might need to have a word with him soon. Maybe I won't have to now, that's all sissy." He smiled as wide as he could, exposing his gleaming white teeth, just like Nessa did when she wanted to charm her way out of trouble.

"You're impossible." I shot over my shoulder as I went down the hall to collect Nessa.

When I reached her bedroom I heard someone knocking on my front door. "I'll get it." Emmett was laughing evilly, never a good sign I thought as I bought Nessa out into the living room.

The front door stood wide open so I went to it. I could hear Emmett speaking very slowly and menacingly to someone but didn't know who. When I got to the door I cursed, Emmett had Tyler Crowley by the throat up against the hood of the Guardian.

"She's not single dipshit and she wouldn't date a dickhead like you even if she was. Go home little boy and don't come sniffing around my sister again or the parts they do find of you will take years to identify." He let Tyler go with a hiss.

Tyler leapt up off the car and ran. When he got to the end of the driveway he turned, "You're fuckin crazy man, a psycho." He yelled and then turned and kept right on running.

Emmett turned to me. "Hey there little one, wanna come play with Uncle Emmett?" He reached for her as she reached for him, as though nothing had just happened.

The two halves of Emmett were as scary as each other. Half man half child. The half that was man scared the shit out of me sometimes.

**EPOV**

I waited outside the Clearwater's house while Sam spoke with Seth. They knew I could hear and read what they were speaking about so they didn't hedge or hide anything.

I learnt that Seth had been sitting in the cafeteria surrounded by his friends as they consumed their food. Two tables along Mike Newton sat with Eric and two other senior boys from the basketball team that Seth didn't know. Seth began to get angry when he overheard Mike telling the others his plan to seduce Bella the following night. Seth had tried to ignore it, knowing Bella wasn't interested and that she could take care of herself. He had been able to keep a lid on his anger right up until Mike began to disparage Nessa.

He'd called her a chain around Bella's neck that he'd (Mike) be happy to remove her at the first opportunity. Thereby giving Mike the chance to 'have' Bella the way she had always hinted that she wanted him to. The other boys had scoffed at his confidence but then asked him how he intended to remove Bella's new ward, to which Mike had responded jokingly, that he'd sell her on eBay.

Whilst that was less than okay with Seth he managed to sit through it all. Mike was, of course, just big noting himself to his friends. Seth knew he was basically harmless and also a giant douche. But when Mike had said that 'the kid' (Nessa) might be difficult to shift on eBay because she was a 'ranga' (someone with red hair, even though her hair was copper, not red) Seth had begun to seethe.

If Mike had just stopped there Seth could've let it slide, but Mike being Mike didn't. Mike wasn't to know that Seth could hear so well and he thought he was only being heard by the people at this own table, but that's no excuse reasoned Seth. Mike told the other boys that it would be a good investment to dye Nessa's hair before making the eBay listing. He said that if he listed her as free to a good home some poor unsuspecting sap would probably take her and he'd be free to 'give Bella one' without the sprog hanging around.

I was proud of the kid though. I would've lost my temper long before he did. He managed to sit through that too and simply got to his feet and walked calmly to where Mike was sitting. He said hello to the bigger boys and asked Mike to please reconsider saying such nasty things about friends of his. Mike told Seth to fuck off, Seth told Mike to shut his disgusting mouth. Mike stood and tried to tower over Seth who simply stood his ground and smiled at the bigger boy.

Seth reminded Mike that he'd had to 'sort him out' once before to which Mike suggested that Seth had been lucky that day because Mike had not been feeling well at the time. Seth reminded Mike that he had cried like a girl when he'd broken his nose and that after that he'd cried because Seth had gotten blood on his jacket.

To this Mike had seen red, probably more because his pride had been injured and his friends were now teasing him about being beaten up by a kid.

Mike had taken a swing at Seth and still the younger boy had kept his head. He simply sidestepped the attempted blow and had grabbed Mike by the collar and dragged him outside into the quad. He held Mike still, up against a window, and asked him to please reconsider saying such awful things about Bella and Nessa.

Picking up on Seth's attachment to Bella Mike began to say disgusting things about Bella's character. He hinted that now she was single again, and free of me, he'd have no problem 'tapping that' and that if Seth had been just another year older he (Mike) was sure that Bella would have no problem taking them both on, at the same time. He'd heard she liked that.

Seth ground his fist into Mike's face and when his nose once again began to spurt blood he'd pushed Mike to the ground and proceeded to punch the hell out of the prone boy. Seth, unfortunately, refused to stop when two male teachers tried to pull him off, and he then took a swing at one of them. When they did manage to get him far enough away from Mike to try to calm him down Seth had spouted such a raging vitriolic laced curse that the teachers had threatened to expel him on the spot.

His friends came to his assistance and told the teachers that he was provoked, that Mike had been saying horrible things about Bella and her little girl and the teachers decided they'd present the information to the principal, leaving the punishment up to him.

So not only was he in trouble for fighting Mike, he was also in trouble for attempting to assault a staff member. Ouch.

He'd run the instant he was able to and had gone directly to Bella's. When Sam questioned why he went there, rather than to the Rez or to the garage to see Sam, Seth had broken down and just cried for Nessa.

Sam came outside to find me and shook his head sadly. "I can understand why he did what he did but he's going to be in a lot of trouble this time. He'll be expelled for sure, for one thing." Sam shook his head again. He was troubled, worried about how this was going to affect Seth's ability to get into med school in the future.

I put my hand on Sam's shoulder, "We'll help." I told him. "Let's just get him healed, get him to Nessa, we'll deal with the rest as it happens."

Sam nodded but kept his thoughts with Seth's future. Sam was convinced Seth had just jeopardised, or at the very least compromised, any future chances he was likely to be given through the education system. I was inclined to agree but knew better than to take the government at face value. Everyone had a price. It just remained to be seen what the Forks High School Principals price was. If money wasn't his particular penchant I'd try for a weakness. Everyone had a weakness, shouldn't be too hard to find his.

Sam excused himself and returned to Seth's side. I took the opportunity to speak with Harry and Sue. I assured them that no matter what happened at the school Seth would be able to finish his education. They weren't too bothered about that, their thoughts told me that neither of them was pleased with his decision to stay at the regular school anyway. They were secretly pleased that he might be forced to return to the school on the Rez. At least he had that option.

My next call was going to have to be to Charlie Swan.

"Chief Swan please, its Edward Cullen calling." I told the operator. I was put on hold and then Charlie answered.

"I was wondering when I'd hear from one of you." Charlie muttered.

"I see. Can you tell me anything yet?" I asked, knowing that Charlie already knew what I wanted to know.

"I've not heard anything from either the victim or his family as yet. But I'm sure I will. You should call your, um, you should call the doctor." He stumbled over calling Carlisle my father.

"I will. Will you let me know if they want to press charges Charlie?" I asked.

"I shouldn't, but I will. Bye Edward, keep my girls safe." And with that he rang off.

So that became my next mission, call Carlisle. 'Hello Dawn, its Edward calling, is dad available please?" I asked the nurse at triage. I was told that I had impeccable timing and that 'dad' had just come out of a cubicle, she'd managed to snaffle him, whatever that entailed.

"Edward, how is he?" Carlisle asked the instant he accepted my call.

"He's healing well, another half hour or so it will be as though nothing ever happened. And Mike?" I asked, though I could barely spare any sympathy for that disgusting boy.

"A broken nose, dislocated collarbone a few stitches to his lip and some rather impressive bruises I'm afraid. He'll need to see a dentist at some point. I've sedated him but he'll recover." He sounded almost relieved.

"When I see you I'll fill you in on the details, but that particular patient does not deserve your empathy Carlisle."

"Be that as it may I am his physician, I will do whatever I can for him." Carlisle admonished me, making me wonder – probably for the thousandth time – whether I had the kind of compassion needed to do the job half as well as he did.

"I can appreciate that, I truly can, but I doubt even you could see the funny side of your only grandchild being sold on eBay to make way for Mr Newtons lascivious intentions towards your daughter in law." I couldn't help but tell him this, I wanted Newton exposed for the repulsive pig he really was.

Carlisle swore softly, "I see. I'll keep that in mind when I remove his nasal packing then." He chuckled darkly. I didn't doubt that Carlisle would be professional, but even a first year med student knew the agony that could be inflicted if one was careful to administer it clandestinely.

"Excellent. Charlie has nothing to report yet, if you hear anything from your patient or his parents will you let me know please?" I asked.

"I certainly will. I'll see you this evening Edward."

I didn't envy Mr Newtons position. Dr Cullen was a force to be reckoned with when his family – and I would bet that Nessa being disparaged would rate the highest of all for Carlisle – were being maligned.

I rang off with a smile on my face.

**BPOV**

Emmett sat with Nessa in the living room. They were playing hide and seek and it was hilarious. Emmett, who was so huge, was trying to hide behind the armchair. Unfortunately most of him hung out either side. He'd tried to hide in the bathroom but the shower stall was too small for his huge frame. My closet was too small and seeing as Nessa's was even smaller that too was out of the question.

He'd eventually settled on behind the armchair, all the while mumbling about my place being so small and how much more fun it would be to play this at the big house.

Nessa didn't care. She played her part perfectly. She knew where he was instantly but she was as happy to indulge her big kid of an uncle as much as he was happy to indulge her. So the game went on.

Nessa – quite loudly – stomping through the place pretending not to see him. "Where can my Unca Emmett be? Is he under the kitchen sink?" She theatrically opened every cupboard in the tiny kitchen, slamming the doors shut and huffing when he wasn't to be found there. "Not in the kitchen. He's a tricky one." She giggled.

I sat at the kitchen table editing some photos I'd taken of Nessa as she played in the apartment. I kept an eye and an ear on the game and giggled along with her as she ran from room to room 'searching'.

"Is he in the bathroom mommy?" She called. "Nope, not in there at all. He's a sneaky one." She came back into the living room and 'found' him behind the armchair.

Loud squeals and laughter rang out as they played another round, this time with Nessa hiding under my seat at the table.

It took Em half an hour of pretend searching and he was just yanking her out from under the table, by her feet squealing in delight at the rough play, when Edward returned with Seth.

Nessa gave up her game the instant she smelled him. "Sethy!" She bellowed, forgetting Emmett and the game and flying to the front door.

Edward knocked. It felt so wrong for him to have to knock.

I opened the door and ushered them inside. "Are you alright?" I whispered to Seth. His scent was back to its usual wet dog aroma, no trace of blood thank heavens.

He held up his hands to show me the pale pink patches where a few hours ago his skin had been ripped open above his knuckles. His lip had the same feint pink line running from the middle of his bottom lip about half an inch downward toward his chin. "I'm fine." He whispered in reply. "Come here little one, I need a cuddle." He sounded so very sad as he bent to pull Nessa up onto his hip. He buried his nose in her hair, just as Edward did to me, and I watched as he drank in her scent.

"Come and see what I've done today. I ate a grape Sethy. Mommy said if I ate people food I could go to big school with you." She told him.

"I don't think I'll be going to school for a bit Nessa." He mumbled, but she ignored him. He let her drag him to the sofa and they were soon engrossed in each other and her memories of the day.

I went to Edward who was still standing in the door. "Are you coming in?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Harry has asked me to go with him to the school to meet with the principal."

"Okay." I said, suddenly sad that I probably wouldn't see him again that day.

"I'll call you tonight, it might be late." He said equally as sadly. "Would that be okay?"

I smiled widely at him, "I'd love that." I whispered, getting up on my toes to kiss him goodbye.

His answering smile was glorious and made my belly flutter. He returned my kiss and squeezed my hand. "Can I have a kiss little one? Daddy won't see you now until tomorrow morning."

Nessa ran to him and launched herself up into his arms. "I will miss you daddy. Will you come to hunt with us tomorrow?" she asked eyes wide with expectation.

I was as eager to hear his answer as she was.

Edward's smile tipped me off and I knew he wouldn't have missed it for anything. "I will. And I'll miss you too little lady. You be good for your momma." He let her down and turned back to me. "I love you." He kissed me again and then went back to his car.

I stood at the door and watched him drive to the end of the street. When the car turned left and was out of sight I went back into the flat.

"You got this dude?" Emmett was asking Seth.

"Yeah." Seth held his fist up and Emmett bumped it. "See you round Em."

"Behave little man." He swatted Seth on the head and then he came to me. "I'll see you again tomorrow morning. And, yeah, thanks for what you said today, thanks for, you know." He tilted his head and I knew he was saying thank you for me having forgiven his part in the deception.

"You're welcome Em. See you tomorrow big brother." I kissed his cheek and he smiled, dimples and all.

"You let me know if any of those idiots come knocking." He grinned, his very white teeth gleaming.

"I will." I said noncommittally.

He swooped at Nessa and gave her one last kiss and then he bolted out the backdoor.

I sat in the armchair and stared at Seth. "So..." I started, hoping he'd finish the sentence for me.

He stared me dead in the eye, "I'll do it again if he can't keep his filthy mouth shut."

Then he pulled Nessa into his lap and kissed her on the top of her head. It seemed he was going to be a very, very fierce protector for my daughter. I could live with that.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review. It is much appreciated when you do and it motivates me to keep writing. Thanks in advance. **


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32 – Full Disclosure

32.

**EPOV**

"Have you had a chance to ask any of the other students what was said before Seth hit Mike?" I asked the principal.

"Well, no, I haven't. I didn't feel the need to ask because it was clear that Seth threw the first punch from what my staff has told me." He said defiantly. He was trying to assert his authority and was having trouble deciding what the hell I was doing there pleading Seth's case when I was a child myself.

"I see. So your staff is aware of what happened prior to Seth throwing the first punch then, are they?"I asked, knowing full well that they weren't.

The man huffed and puffed, "He has been in trouble before, he was aware that if he engaged in this type of violent behaviour again he would be expelled. If you are going to plead provocation don't bother." He tried to look and sound authorative but under his false bravado he was terribly frightened of me.

Some humans, and it isn't respectful of age race or creed, are particularly wary of our kind. They sense something inherently wrong with us though they cannot, of course, work out exactly what it is that makes them feel that way. Their skin prickles, they shiver or the hairs on the back of their necks stand on end whenever we are near. They sweat, salivate extraordinarily much and they feel an intense desire to flee.

Forks High School had a principal who was experiencing each and every one of those reactions, then some.

He mopped his brow with a paper napkin and straightened his tie. I had taken the time on the drive over to construct a line of defence and I was about to present it. At this point I was fairly sure, from the poor man's body language and his terrified thoughts, that it wouldn't take much to ensure Seth's continued attendance at the school.

"So based solely on your own observations, which you have admitted was limited to seeing the injuries Mr Newton had when he was taken by the paramedics, and the limited evaluation you received from your staff, you have formed the opinion that Mr Clearwater was at full fault and he is to be expelled? Is that the stance you wish to take?" I asked in a strong, clear voice.

Harry Clearwater sat beside me doing his best to contain his mirth. I'd told him what I intended to say but he was thinking that my talents were wasted on the piano and a career in law might have been a good idea.

The principal ran my statement over in his mind twice before answering. He still wasn't convinced I wasn't trying to trap him. He should've gone with his intuition. "I am saying that all the reports I have had have said that Seth threw the first punch despite being warned not to use violence, risking expulsion."

I looked to Harry and nodded. Harry nodded back, which we had arranged prior to coming into the office. Harry had no idea what he was nodding about, but he played his part perfectly. "I see. That presents a problem for us. You see, the students we've spoken to have all stated that Mr Newton was actually discussing how best to sell my daughter over the internet. He was considering auctioning her to the highest bidder so that my wife would be free from her burden and able to date him. As you can see, that might raise a few questions as to why you are punishing the person who uncovered the child exploitation ring operating within your school." I said the last sentence very slowly and delighted in watching and listening to his panic slowly rise.

His eyes widened and his heart rate tripled as he fought the urge to curse. I was, after all, a former student and merely a child myself. "I wasn't aware you had a daughter, Mr Cullen." He was genuinely surprised. He really hadn't bothered to ask anyone what the fight was about, that would go in my favour shortly.

"My wife's cousin was recently killed, car accident," I lied smoothly. "Isabella was named guardian of a baby girl. Since we are married and Isabella is now effectively that child's mother that makes me her father. So yes, I have a daughter." I said firmly.

He was angry that I'd turned up and taken over what should've been a simple expulsion appointment with Harry. He'd already had the forms filled out for the school board. He was pissed because I'd cornered him and he was panicking over what to tell Newton's parents.

None of that was my concern. My interest was only in Seth's future. Something that was slowly becoming a question in the principal's thoughts. "What exactly is your interest in Seth?" He knew we weren't related, he knew that Seth was from the Rez originally and with one quick look at my pale skin he knew I wasn't in any way attached to the natives that lived there.

"My interest is familial. My wife's family is very close to the Clearwater's. That makes Mr Clearwater family. That includes Seth, whom I consider a friend also from our association here at school." None of it was a lie, that was the actual bond I had with the family. Of course there was the fact that Seth would one day be my son in law, but the fast back pedalling human didn't need to know that.

He was seeing in his mind the riots and media intervention if I outed this to the press, the school board disciplinary hearings he was going to have to defend himself at and how to explain to his wife that he'd lost his pension for harbouring kiddie-sellers.

"I see." He was sweating profusely now. He continued to mop at his brow but he was fighting a losing battle. "I'll look further into what happened. Give me till Friday to speak to the students that were there. I'll let you know what action I'll take then." He stood, wanting me out of his office now.

I reached across the desk and offered my hand, as did Harry, who hadn't said a single word the entire appointment. "I'll be waiting for your decision." I nodded politely and took my hand back after shaking his.

I ushered Harry out of the office and we went back out into the parking lot to the Aston.

"You should've been a lawyer, boy." Harry laughed as we drove away from the school and back towards the Rez.

"It's not for me Harry. I'm a bloodsucker by nature and even I couldn't stoop low enough to do it for a living." I chuckled.

"You defended Seth quite well, I thought. What was he thinking at the end there?" He asked.

"Seth isn't pond scum like I'd have to defend as a lawyer Harry and it was rather amusing to make that man squirm like that. As we were leaving he was considering calling his physician, which incidentally is Carlisle, and putting in for stress leave. But with regard to Seth he was trying very hard to work out how to tell Mr and Mrs Newton that their son bought all this upon himself and, more than likely, could be charged with some fairly serious offences regarding the safety of small children. I think I made my point. Now we wait." I laughed.

As we drove through the front gate of the Rez Harry was thinking how lucky his boy was to have found himself caught up with these particular vampires. We might just have something to offer the boy. If med school didn't pan out maybe law school would.

**BPOV**

Edward and I talked on the phone for three hours that night.

To the rhythmic snoring of an exhausted Seth – asleep on the trundle bed right beside Nessa – we talked about our day.

He told me all about Seth's side of the story and then about his meeting with Harry and the principal. We talked about a plan B should Seth be expelled. It felt a little silly to be discussing Seth's education as though we were his parents, but Edward assured me that Harry and Sue were open to us having some input in Seth's future considering our daughter was going to be his future.

We talked about Tyler's visit and how Emmett had handled it. Edward had laughed along but I knew that underneath he'd be seething.

We talked about the pact I'd made with Emmett that afternoon and a little bit about how Nessa's eating regime was progressing.

By 3am I reluctantly hung up. I was wired both mentally and physically. I was lying in my lonely bed trying to extract the last hit of his scent off the t-shirt I still had. It was almost gone from the fabric now, I'd rubbed it all over to loosen the scent molecules from the weave, but it was getting more and more difficult to smell him on it as each hour past.

If I was going to get through the next few days I'd need another, or something else with his scent on it at the very least.

It felt ridiculous but I took my cell phone and composed my request, hitting send before I could over think it.

~Stupid request #1, Will you please bring me the shirt you had on today when you come tomorrow? Missing you, Bella xx~

I didn't know if he had his phone with him, I didn't even know where he was. Maybe he'd gone to the cottage, maybe he was at the big house, and maybe he was in the trees behind the flat. Someone was, I knew that for certain.

It wouldn't be Alice, she hated being so blind and with Seth insitu she'd be doubly hampered. Besides, she'd already had a turn just two nights ago.

When my cell beeped to tell me I had a message I snatched it up off the bed and opened it with such force the casing hinges cracked in protest.

~You can have mine if I can have yours? Not sleeping used to be a plus, now it's just more hours to miss you. I love you more than life itself, Edward xx~

I got up out of the bed and dressed in his shirt and my jeans. I went out into the little kitchen and turned on the light in the range. It would be enough light to work by seeing as I could see perfectly, but not bright enough to bother Seth or Nessa who were still sleeping but with the door wide open.

I put the printer and my laptop onto the little table and started them both up. The hum from the machines was oddly calming as I set about editing some more photos.

The sun came up over the mountains and filled my kitchen with diffused orange light. I packed the printer up and put it back on the floor to make way for Seth and Nessa's breakfast.

At seven I woke Seth but left Nessa to sleep a little longer. He showered and was soon sitting at the little table, stomach growling with hunger. Despite the disgusting smell I'd made him pancakes and bacon and had put toast, maple syrup and a bottle of juice on the table.

He was already halfway through the meal when Nessa began to stir.

"I'll get her." I said going down the hall. "Don't eat all that, I want Nessa to try some." I told him.

Nessa questioned why she couldn't have a bath straight away and I told her that Seth was having breakfast and she should have some too. She screwed up her nose but didn't whine. I took her to the table and she sat and watched Seth inhale his food for a few minutes. I wasn't going to insist she try anything, but I knew her well enough to know that if Seth was eating she would want to as well.

He shuffled until his seat was right next to hers and then he turned his plate so that the bacon was hanging off the edge right near her. I could see her sniffing the air. She didn't crinkle up her nose so it must have smelled okay to her. Infinitely better than the fruit had anyway, I always knew meat of any kind would tempt her.

Seth kept eating but said nothing. Pretty soon a tiny little hand snaked out from under the table and stole a strip of bacon. Seth, for his part, just smiled and kept quiet while the little girl put it hesitantly to her lips. She licked it and then ran the flavour around her mouth. She turned it over a few times and then she broke off a small piece and put it in her mouth.

Chewing was new for her; a blood diet rarely required the use of her pointy little teeth. Even when she **was** hunting her teeth slid through flesh like a knife through butter. Gingerly she chewed the leathery meat. Seth stopped chewing and leaned over to her, "That's my favourite. It's bacon." He nudged her a little and she took another tentative bite.

When she'd swallowed that bite she pushed her tongue up to the roof of her mouth and then out between her lips. She reminded me of those commercials where the dog had a mouth full of peanut butter!

"Can it be my favourite too Sethy?" She asked. Then she reached for another piece.

I didn't want to make too big a deal of it, after all eating was a pretty fundamental human thing to do. She didn't need praise for doing something she should've done all along but only balked at through stubbornness.

So I set about making her some of her own.

Soon she had eaten three long strips of bacon and had tried a small piece of pancake that she didn't like at all. She loved the maple syrup, but I had to put my foot down and say that she could only have it on something, not straight from the bottle like she had wanted.

Rose and Em were the first to arrive that morning and Rose was delighted to be able to give Nessa her bath. There wasn't enough room in my bathroom to accommodate the mountain man too, so he sat and talked with Seth while the baby was bathed and then dressed.

Edward arrived next and he came from the front door straight to me and kissed me firmly on my lips. "Good morning all." He smirked at me and led me down the hall to my bedroom. As we stepped inside the door he drew his shirt off over his head and held it out to me. "For you." He nodded at the shirt and I snatched it out of his hand without hesitation.

I pulled mine off over my head, handed it to him and then put his on. I buried my nose in the collar and took a deep pull. When I opened my eyes I saw he was doing the same. "We're a pair, aren't we?" I giggled.

He chuckled and bought another shirt out from where it was hanging from the back pocket of his jeans. This one he pulled on over top of mine so he didn't have to spend the day with a pink frangipani flower on his chest.

"One more thing." He said, stepping towards me. He put one hand on my cheek and the other he threaded into my hair. Tugging me gently towards him I watched as his lips came towards mine. He very softly kissed me. His tongue ran slowly over my bottom lip and I couldn't help but moan as it pressed for entry into my more than willing mouth. He pulled me tighter up against his chest and I wrapped my arms around him. His fingers stroked the back of my neck through my hair, my skin was tingling with desire and I was in danger of losing my mind! All too soon he pulled away, cheeky grin once again firmly in place. "That's a proper good morning." He smirked. "In the interest of full disclosure I am obliged to tell you that I totally fucking adore you." He kissed me on the cheek and went back down the hall.

I waited a few seconds before going back to the living room and my guests.

When Alice and Jasper arrived the little living room got loud, real loud, as everyone voiced their opinion on Seth's 'incident' as it became known, to protect Nessa from what had happened.

Again Edward came to stand by me at the counter and again I reached for his hand behind his back. He smiled at me warmly and leaned down to whisper, "I missed you last night."

**EPOV**

She had no idea I'd been in her backyard all night long and I wanted it to stay that way. I'd had to go a little further from the apartment than I'd wanted to, just so that while we spoke on the phone she wouldn't hear me actually speaking, but I knew I'd hear anyone approach long before they had a chance to get near the flat so felt it was safe enough.

Of course, that meant I'd have to drive us somewhere else to hunt this morning. If she crossed my scent she'd know how fresh it had been laid there.

As we waved everyone off to work and school – and Seth home to the Rez – I broached the subject of a little jaunt.

I pulled her to me and held her tightly. I kissed the corner of her mouth and felt her shudder. "I thought we might hunt a little further afield today. What would you say to a trip to our tree?" I suggested.

Her eyes darkened as I watched, sending a ripple of desire through me. My balls clenched with need as she sighed softly. "The meadow?" She asked, eyebrows arched in question.

With her face tilted over slightly her throat was exposed to me and I couldn't resist a small taste. I suckled the soft creamy skin between her neck and shoulder, her hands flew to my hair instantly, making me harder by degrees. I let her flesh go and whispered, "Yes Bella, come to the meadow with me."

I should have known she'd test me but I was unprepared when she did.

"Who watched me last night Edward?" She stepped out of my embrace and went into the hall towards Nessa where she was playing in her room.

I ran a hand through my hair and cursed silently. "I did." I told her honestly.

She giggled and I relaxed a little. I heard her picking up toys and putting them away, then the sound of her kissing Nessa, then Nessa's giggle in reply to some shared joke or game. "Are you asking us to hunt away from here so I don't cross your fresh scent?" She asked from Nessa's room.

"Shit." I mumbled making her laugh. "Yes."

"Thought so." She came out of Nessa's room with the baby's bag filled with spare clothes and toys and with a blanket under her arm. "Let's go then." I just stood there staring at her as she came towards me. She put the bag and blanket on the sofa and stood on tip toe. "Thank you for telling me. Full disclosure. I like it. Let's go to the meadow, love." She kissed me softly at the edge of my jaw and then went to collect Nessa.

She'd called me love and I was in heaven.

I put Nessa into her car seat but Bella drove. The closer we got to the turn off for the meadow the more nervous and excited I got. I'd not been there since the last time Bella and I had been there together. I'd wanted to go, often in the first few days after she left me, but couldn't bring myself to be there on my own.

She began smiling smugly as the turnoff neared. "Looking forward to a little sunshine Isabella?" I asked knowing her smile was nothing to do with the weather.

"I am." She glanced at me, "And you? Is it the weather that has you so cheerful this morning?"

"Not at all." I said proudly. "I have my two girls with me, I'm going to be able to see our tree, the sun is going to come out at some point **and **I'm going to get to see your beautiful skin sparkling. It's a grand day to be me." I chuckled.

"What will Alice and Jasper do if the sun comes out?" She asked.

"Carlisle will call the school and they'll be yanked out to go camping." I laughed. "Rose will have to go home too though, she'll hate that. I'm glad I won't be there when she gets there."

"I've not talked to Rosie yet." She mumbled. "Or Carlisle, or Jasper." She sighed.

"What's that, love?" I asked.

"I've talked to Esme and Alice and yesterday Emmett, but I haven't talked to the others yet. I wanted to make amends with them all before I came home." She glanced at me again but quickly turned her eyes back to the road.

It was the first mention she'd made about coming home and I was stunned into silence. I wanted that so desperately I didn't trust myself to speak of it for fear of begging until she was sick to the back teeth of me. "Well then, perhaps you could leave Nessa with me this afternoon and go and see Carlisle, he'd like that." I wanted her to speak to them all today so she would come home today, but I knew that wasn't going to happen, so I nudged rather than pushed.

She stopped the Guardian at the end of the track and turned it off. She faced me in her seat. "I think I might do that actually. Thanks."

We ran, the three of us, hand in hand along the path and when Nessa got her first look at the meadow she gasped in delight at the carpet of wildflowers that greeted her.

"So pretty!" she bellowed as she ran in circles among them. She was half a head shorter than the tallest ones and for a few moments at a time she was lost to them.

Bella spread the blanket out right in the centre of the clearing and put Nessa's bag on it to secure it. Then she ran back to where I stood in front of our tree.

Our initials were still there of course, but now they seemed even more important to me than they had the day we'd carved them. Bella had still been human then, with a broken knuckle too. So she had carved the first few strokes and I had finished it.

I remembered clearly why she wanted to do it. I wondered if she did. "Do you remember why you said you wanted this done?" I asked her, putting my arm around her waist lazily.

She smiled, "I said I wanted it to be there forever, so there was proof that we lived and loved each other."

"It's still here and I still love you." I told her.

"It is and I still love you." She tugged on my hand and led me to the blanket. "Nessa, don't go into the trees please." She told the crazy child that looked just like my little girl.

We sank onto the blanket and watched as Nessa chased first a butterfly and then a bee before doing another two laps of the clearing and finally collapsing in a heap on the blanket beside me. She flung herself down and lay on her back looking up at the clouds just like Bella always did.

"She's so much like you." I whispered to Bella who turned and lay down, putting her head in my lap. "She hunts like you, she talks like you." I nodded to where Nessa was now pointing to the clouds, giving them names. "She even watches clouds like you do."

"She's like you too though. Articulate like you, a perfectionist like you and smart like you too. Oh, and stubborn." She giggled.

I scoffed, "Oh yeah, she gets her stubbornness only from me." I rolled my eyes knowing she had seen.

She swatted my arm. "I'm not stubborn Edward, I'm firm." She laughed.

You and me both I thought. Being hard all night and now all morning was not only becoming the norm for me but also a problem. I'd have a severe case of blue balls if I didn't do something about it soon.

"Okay Bella, you call it firm if you want to." I chuckled. "See that one there Nessa, it looks like a boat." I pointed to a particular cloud and Nessa squinted up at it.

"Like Pa's boat. Can I go on Pa's boat again soon mommy?" She asked, turning to seek Bella's face.

"Sure. I'll ask him if he can take us one weekend when he's not working." Bella told her.

"Not you, just me and Pa, like last time." She shook her head.

I felt Bella flinch under me. "You went in the boat with Pa, just you and Pa?" I asked Nessa who was already nodding. "Show me?" I asked her.

She jumped up and came to sit beside me. She put her hand to my chin and showed me Bella dropping her at the marina with Charlie, then her and Charlie going out onto the water. Him fishing, her sitting primly in a life jacket beside him as they chatted. Then the ride back to the shore, Bella arriving to collect her and the drive home.

"Pa caught a fish this big." She held out her hands to show me and I laughed. If she was to be believed the fish was bigger than her.

"It looks like you had lots of fun. Why don't you go and chase some more butterflies before they all fly away from us." I suggested.

She liked that idea and ran off.

**BPOV**

I knew what was coming. I got up out of his lap and sat opposite him, cross legged. "I left her with Charlie, doubled back to the house and listened to your vote and then the meeting." I told him before he had to ask.

He ran a hand through his hair and cursed all but silently. "You knew? All that time you knew?" He asked, his voice a hoarse whisper.

"I still don't really know Edward. I didn't learn too much the couple of times I tried to find out either. I just knew that something or someone was coming and that you were all determined to keep it from me." I told him.

"Why didn't you say you'd heard us, why did you let us do that to you?" he was getting angry, which seemed ridiculous to me.

I moved further away from him and got up onto my knees. "Hey, hang on a minute there. You can't be angry with me for not asking, you all voted to not tell me!" I was trying my best not to raise my voice because of Nessa, but I was close to losing my bundle. "I didn't need to let you do that to me, by the way, you all voted to do it to me, remember?" I spat.

"Jesus, what a fucking mess." He sighed. "What did you learn that day? That had to be only a little while before you left me." He winced when he said it.

"It was. A week and a half before I left. I heard everyone vote and knew that you had until the end of the month to tell me what was going on or one of them would." I shrugged. I'd done nothing wrong, I'd be damned if I was going to apologize for eavesdropping.

"The first of June. You left me the first of June. You were waiting for me to tell you, the end of the month came and went? That's why you left that day?" He asked, his face clouding over as the pain of realization hit him.

"Yes Edward, that's why I left that day. I knew you weren't going to tell me. The others would have, I think, maybe Emmett and Carlisle eventually. But you weren't going to. You left me no choice."

He hung his head and sighed, "We'd planned to tell you that night. When you went to Port Angeles to the library we were going to have a meeting, to work out how best to tell you. We were going to wait until all the wolves, Seth too, could come over and we'd do it as a family. Break the news to you both with everyone there, try and make it a bit easier to hear. But we never got that far." He said quietly.

"It doesn't matter Edward." I said. "That's not important. I left because you lied to me, over and over again. I left because you shut me out, completely. No affection, no conversation, no interest. You showed no interest in me at all, only for Nessa. In the end I felt as though I wasn't married to you anymore. You were Nessa's father but you weren't my husband any longer. You just sat and played and only participated if it had something to do with Seth or Renesmee."

"I didn't know what to tell you at the beginning, then it became about how to tell you. The longer it went on the more they warned me not to let it. But I ignored them. I thought I was not telling you because I loved you, but you think I didn't tell you because I didn't love you." He moaned, scrubbed his neck with his hand and turned sad and hurt eyes towards me. "I want to tell you, will you let me?"

I searched for Nessa and saw that she was happily leaping for butterflies amongst the flowers. I looked back to Edward and decided it was time to hear what had gone on. "Tell me." I said.

He reached for me and I let him pull me back into his lap. I looked up at the sky and watched the dark clouds clear and make way for the sun as he told me about how it had come about.

"I got a call from Liam first. He and Siobhan had been contacted by Stefan and Vladimir and it seemed innocent enough. A few questions about you, a few about Nessa. I made a mental note of it and shrugged it off, as did Alice who told us that no decisions had been made and no visit had been planned." He paused and let me think about it while he checked Nessa. "A week later I got a call from Mary. She and Julian had been contacted too. Same questions, seemingly innocent. Nobody but me was too concerned so I decided not to tell you. If it was nothing I'd have worried you for no reason, if it was something I'd have upset you."

"Okay, I can see your logic but you do know it was wrong, don't you Edward?" I asked.

"Of course I do, I did then. I made a mistake Bella. That first mistake you probably could've forgiven me, but I perpetuated it over and over again as the other covens got in contact with us. After Mary's call I'd made a wager with myself. I'd write down the names of the covens in my journal and I'd mark them off as they were contacted. I told myself I wouldn't panic, and wouldn't have to tell you anything until every coven that had come for Nessa's christening had been marked off." He let his eyes travel around the meadow and he smiled when he found Nessa. She was still content to play amongst the flowers so he continued with his story. "Tanya was in Italy, visiting Aro when they were contacted. That frightened me because it meant I had to mark off two covens from my list. They were asked the same questions though, so everyone – the family I mean – thought I was being stupid worrying so much. Then I began going to see Carlisle at the hospital, remember? He slowly came around to my way of thinking and he helped me convince the others that there was something more than innocent questions being asked. For one, we hadn't been contacted, and two, Amun sent a telegram saying he too had been contacted. Of course he told the Romanians that Renesmee was a witch and although they don't believe in witches, there was now only two covens left on my list. The others believed me now."

"That's when you all started having meetings, isn't it? When I started taking Nessa to the library and to see Renee or Charlie, you all met to discuss it." I sighed.

"We did. I'm so ashamed Bella. I used Nessa as an excuse not to tell you. I got them to vote no by saying if I told you you'd tell Seth and then he'd tell Nessa. They panicked and voted no. I wish I hadn't. Alice tried to show me the fight we were going to have when you found out but I still wouldn't listen. Emmett begged me, Alice tried everything to get me to tell you but I refused. It was the worst decision of my existence Bella, please believe that when I tell you that."

"I know it was Edward because I'm living with the consequences of it too. Keep going, Nessa will be thirsty soon, please just tell me as much as you can before then." I implored him.

So he did. He told me all about Alistair's call and Zafrina's letter. He told me about how they learned that the problem was the wolves, not Seth or Nessa themselves and then he told me that they were still waiting for a reply to Carlisle's recent correspondence with the Romanians.

"We hoped they'd talk with Carlisle over the phone but they refused point blank. So he wrote to them but they've not responded. Alice hasn't seen anything so we'll just wait it out." He told me.

"So we wait. It's not like we haven't waited before. Jacob and then Victoria, James and Laurent, they were all a waiting game, this is no different." I assured him.

"I agree. And when Alice sees something we'll be able to form a plan." He said firmly.

"Yes, we will. You and me Edward, we can make plans again now, can't we?" I asked cautiously.

He smiled, "You have no idea how good it is to hear you ask that my love." He bent his head and kissed me sweetly on the lips. "But right now the only plan I have is to see as much of your skin sparkle as you'll let me." He smirked.

**EPOV**

My girls were so very beautiful in the sunlight. Nessa's skin was pale in comparison to her mothers, but no less beautiful to me. The slight shimmer she gave off was lovely, like the inside of a pearl shell. To the human eye she'd just seem flawless, to our more sensitive sight she was silvery pale and shining in the sunlight.

She laid on the blanket with us and we stared at the clouds and played silly games right there in our meadow.

When her thoughts turned to her thirst we packed our things back into the Guardian and ran deeper into the forest. Bella and I stood arm in arm and watched our little girl feed from a small black tailed deer. We whispered back and forth about her technique. I told Bella how proud I was that she'd taught the little girl so well, Bella told me how happy she was that I was now able to share this with them both.

When the sun was past its highest point in the sky Bella drove us back to the big house and I took Nessa inside to visit while Bella went to speak with Carlisle.

I was so happy to spend some extra time with Nessa. Her first request as we stepped inside was for me to play for her. After kisses and hugs with Esme she settled herself beside me on the piano bench and we resumed our game as if it had been hours rather than weeks since the last time we'd played it.

She recalled perfectly all I'd taught her prior and as I played she became more and more animated, humming softly in places she remembered and asking me to replay pieces she couldn't quite recall. I played for her two of the newer pieces I had been working on in her absence and she expressed a wish to learn to play them for herself.

I pulled her into my lap properly, so she was sat high enough that her little fingers could reach the keys. I placed her hands on the inside of mine and she copied the notes as I played them. By the time Bella returned she had progressed past playing scales and was playing simple nursery songs with ease.

She was astounding, incredible and the very best part of me.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you have found something of note please review, if you hated it and think it's trite rubbish, please review. **


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33 – Firm

33.

**BPOV**

"Sorry about that Bella." Carlisle bent to kiss me at my temple and then he went around and sat at his desk, opposite me. "We shouldn't be disturbed for a bit now." He smiled.

"It's okay. It's nice to see you." I told him honestly. I'd missed him. I missed his gentle guidance, and his not so gentle guidance too.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit?" He asked. He sounded worried.

"I want to go home." I blurted out. I hadn't meant to, and it was the first time I'd put voice to it, but it seemed a good idea to talk to Carlisle about it rather than any of the others. He was the oldest, most experienced person I knew. He knew Edward better than anyone else. I respected him, despite his betrayal of late.

His smile was glorious, as though I'd just told him I was pregnant again. "I'm so pleased to hear that."

"But, before I ask Edward about it I need to make amends with you all." I lowered my eyes in deference.

"You have nothing to make amends for." He slipped out of his chair and came to kneel beside me. He pulled my chair so that I was facing him and he put his hands on top of mine in my lap. "I voted no twice and I'll never forgive myself for doing it. But I begged Edward to tell you later, when I began to see how unhappy you were with the silence, but he wouldn't be moved. I know that's no consolation, but I wanted you to know my part in all this. I eventually gave him an ultimatum. We were poised to tell you the evening you left, did he tell you that?" I nodded and he sighed. "Oh Isabella, please forgive me?" He lowered his head and rested it on our clasped hands. "I've never made quite so many mistakes with this family as I have since you came to us. I have no idea why, things seemed so clear before, I knew how to be a leader before."

I smiled. "I seem to have that chaotic effect on people." I laughed. "I pretty much turned my parents lives upside down these past few months, I don't see why your family should be any different." I giggled.

His head flew up and his eyes sought mine. "**You** are my family. You are as much a daughter to me as Nessa is to you. You were my daughter long before you were my daughter in law Bella. I made you, I am your sire, your father in this life. Your tie to Edward is secondary, you are from my venom, I bought you over, you are my family and I love you. I always have." His eyes were fierce, showing me his sincerity and his loyalty.

I pulled a hand out from under his and put it on his cheek. "I love you too, daddy." I leant over and kissed his cheek. "I hope you will forgive me for taking Nessa away from you this past month. I didn't do it to hurt you, I just needed some time to sort out what I wanted, from Edward I suppose."

"I know sweetheart, he let you down, we all did. But that hurts particularly badly coming from a mate, doesn't it?" He asked and I nodded with a grimace. "I'm so happy to hear that you are considering coming home. I'm not sure for how much longer I can contain Esme," He rolled his eyes theatrically, "She is about ready to kidnap you both and hold you prisoner in the big house if you don't come home soon." He chuckled.

"Soon, I'll come home soon. We haven't discussed it. We aren't up to that bit yet." I told him. I knew the instant I broached the subject Edward would be elated, but it was still a hit to my pride to have to ask if he wanted me home. It had been so long since we'd been in the one place together for longer than a few hours. It was going to be awkward at first, so I was putting it off.

"Is there anything you need to ask me?" He stood but held firmly onto my hand. I knew he was asking if Edward had told me what was going on yet.

I shook my head. "No, my husband has informed me of the situation." I said formally. "Finally." I added childishly, eliciting a chuckle from Carlisle.

He let my hand go and made his way back around to the other side of the desk. "I'm glad he's finally confided in you but I'm so sorry that it's happening to you again. I'm still waiting for word from the north, my letter has to have been there for a week, maybe more. But as yet no word. Could be a good thing, might mean something entirely different." He trailed off.

"We'll deal with it Carlisle, we always do. This time I can fight too." I told him, earning a beautiful, gentle smile.

"You're a good girl Bella, I hope Edward knows how lucky he is."

"I'll make sure he does." I giggled. "Thank you for seeing me. I should go though, I can hear the sirens, you've got a patient coming." I stood and waited for him to come around the desk again.

"Those sirens never stop, do they?" He mumbled as he enveloped me in a tight hug. He kissed my temple.

"You should try living near this place." I rolled my eyes and kissed his cheek. "I'll see you soon."

I left the hospital feeling pretty good. I'd admitted that I wanted to go home; now all I had to do was approach Edward about it.

Before going to the big house to collect Nessa I went by the bank and withdrew the following two months' rent on the apartment. Then I went to the estate agents.

"Bella!" Angela shouted from behind the reception desk.

I glanced at the clock above her head and saw that it was already four in the afternoon, Angela had finished school for the day and it was obvious that she had gotten the reception job. "Hi Ange." I said. "You got the job I see?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "Listen, I didn't mean to snoop but I saw you are renting the flat in Perry Street, is everything alright?" She asked, concern clouding her normally clear green eyes.

"Everything's fine Ange, really it's good." I lied smoothly.

I knew what was coming before she even began to speak. She leaned over the desk and whispered, "Mike said you have a little girl now? Your cousin's girl? Why isn't Edward living there with you?"

"It's complicated Ange, but everything's okay." Another lie, if I wasn't already damned – if you believed Edward, which I usually didn't on that subject, we were all already damned – I was racking up demerit points at a rapid rate.

She leaned over the desk and whispered as though she had a huge secret to impart, "That Seth kid beat the hell out of Mike the other day for saying something bad about you." She raised her eyebrows to punctuate how scandalous it was.

"Really? Wow. I hadn't heard." Strike three for lies today. "Anyway, how are you and Ben?" I asked as a diversion.

"Oh we're great. I'm actually going to meet his parents this weekend. I'm so nervous. It was easier for him because everyone knows my dad already, you know, from church. We should get together, double or something?" She asked hopefully.

I really would've liked to have done that, but wasn't sure what Edward would think. So I just smiled and said that would be great. "Listen Ange, I'm actually here to pay out my lease. I don't think I'll be staying the whole three months." I nodded towards the man at the desk behind the screen.

"Oh, are you moving back in with the Cullen's then? That's good to hear, you and Edward are so good together." She smiled. She picked up the handset on her desk and pressed a button. "Mr Nugent, Bella Cullen is here to see you." She said into the phone. "Oh, right, Bella Swan then." She creased her brow and shot me a 'look'. "I'll send her back." She put the phone down and looked up at me sadly. "Have you really split up then? If you're Swan on the lease, oh Bella what's going on?" She whispered.

"Look, it's really complicated and I don't have time now, but everything really is okay. I'm moving back there, Edward and I are fine, it was just a little break while I got used to the baby, that's all." I wanted out of the conversation now. "Can I go back there?" I nodded towards the agent's office and she nodded.

When I came out she had a line of customers waiting at the reception desk so I was spared another discussion about my private life, but I threw her a wave and a smile and made the international signal for 'call me' using my fingers and thumb. She smiled, waved back and nodded that she would call me. It was always much easier telling lies to humans over the phone where they couldn't see my face I thought as I left the agency and headed back out of town towards the Cullen's.

**EPOV**

Nessa was still in my lap copying my playing when Bella came up the drive. Nessa was getting sleepy and grumpy as she'd not had a nap today. We'd spent a lot longer in the meadow than we'd intended and she had stubbornly refused to take a nap once we'd begun playing. I hoped Bella wouldn't be cross with me for giving in to the little devil.

I wanted to greet Bella at the door but Nessa kept pulling my hands back to the keys. "Daddy plays then Nessa plays." She said tetchily.

I rolled my eyes. I knew what this was but wasn't looking forward to explaining it to Bella. Nessa had decided she didn't want to go to the flat; she wanted to stay here with her things and her family.

I was 'allowed' to turn and greet my wife when she came through the front door but any attempt I made to take my hands off the keyboard was met with a pointed hiss from my spoilt daughter. "Hello love." I said to Bella as she came toward us.

She kissed me at the back of my neck, making me shudder with pleasure. "Hello there." She stepped to the side and went to kiss Nessa on her curls.

I felt Nessa stiffen and then pull away so Bella couldn't kiss her. I read in her thoughts what she was about to do and my heart lurched for Bella. This was going to hurt.

"Nessa, don't you have a kiss for me?" Bella asked.

"No." Nessa said firmly.

Bella looked to me with pleading eyes. "She's just cranky because she's not had her nap." I told her.

"Well then, early to bed tonight for you little miss." Bella announced, reaching out to tousle the little girls curls. It made Nessa go rigid in my lap.

This was going to be heartbreaking to watch. I didn't see any way I could avoid it, or head it off, but wished that I could.

"I'm not going to _your _house to bed." Nessa announced, taking her hands from the keys for a second. She put her hands in her lap and turned her shoulders so she could see my face. "I will eat human food if you let me stay here with you, daddy." She batted her eyelashes at me in an attempt to charm me. "Mommy can go to that other place and I will stay here with you and Nana-Ne and Pa. Mommy can visit." And then she turned back around, put her hands back into place on the keys and began playing once again.

I heard Esme gasp in shock in the kitchen and Rose sigh out in the garage. I knew that the three women would more than likely be aghast at what the little girl had just said.

I had known that Nessa was going to say that but I couldn't tell her not to, it was what she felt. She didn't like being apart from me and I knew that she would hate being apart from Bella too if she ever had to be. But I also knew that Nessa was using whatever tools she had available to get us to at least live under one roof again. She had a right to her opinion, even if I didn't like the way she delivered it.

I wasn't about to let her talk to Bella that way though, I was about to scold the little girl for being so hurtful and manipulative when Bella dropped her wallet and keys and fled up the stairs to our suite, slamming the door behind her.

I picked Nessa up at her waist and put her on her feet on the floor beside the piano bench. I stood and took her by the hand and led her to the sofa. I sat her on it and knelt in front of her. "Nessa what you just said to your mother was awful. I know you don't like it that we aren't all living together right now, but that's no excuse for speaking to your mother like that. Where we live, and how, is for adults to decide, do you understand me?" She nodded gravely. "You **will** apologize to your mother and you **will** go home with her and you **will** sleep for her. Have I made myself clear?" I said firmly.

Her eyes welled up with tears and her thoughts turned to how nasty I was being to her. "Yes daddy." She cried.

"Good. Now, you might think I'm a nasty man for speaking to you like this, but you can't say whatever you like and not expect consequences. You can't use food as a weapon either. We want you to eat human food so that you can go to school and have human friends and live with Seth when you're older, not because we're being mean. I don't want to hear you saying you'll eat food if other people will do what you want them to do, that's what naughty girls do. Do you want people to think you're a naughty girl?" I asked her sternly.

She shook her head violently and thought about what I'd said. "I don't want to live with only mommy. I want to live here. I want to play. I want to swim. I want my room." She wailed, raising another agonised sob from Bella upstairs.

"I know you do." I told her, reaching out to stroke her tear stained cheek. "I want that too, so does mommy. But right now that's not how things are. You live with mommy and I live here. We might not like it but that is how things are. That isn't a reason to be horrible to your mother, okay?"

"Okay daddy." She mumbled again.

"Good. Now, I'm going to ask Nana-Ne if she wants to spend some time with my naughty little girl while I go and talk to your mother." I stood and nodded to Esme who stood in the archway watching us.

'_You handled that beautifully Edward. Go to Bella, I'll take care of Nessa.'_ Esme thought. "Okay sweetpea, how about you and I go and dig in nana's new garden for a little while?" she asked Nessa who blinked up at Esme and smiled cautiously. She was worried she was in trouble with her grandmother too. When Esme held out a hand for her she gladly took it.

By the time they were through the backdoor Nessa's thoughts were only for the dirt she was going to be allowed to play with.

**BPOV**

I knew he was going to be full of sympathy for me but I didn't want it!

I'd done this to myself, bought this on myself. If I'd have just asked the damn questions of him in the first place, if I'd have insisted he tell me, I might have avoided all this.

Now Nessa hated me for taking her away from Edward and I didn't blame her.

He stood in the doorway, "Can I come in?" He asked softly.

I lifted my face out of the pillow enough to mumble 'it's your room' and then I plunged my face back into the pillow so I could hide some more.

He came to the side of the bed and sat down next to me. He smelled so good I was almost distracted from what I was doing in his bed in the first place. He began to stroke my hair as he spoke. "She didn't mean it sweetheart. She's just confused. She doesn't understand why she doesn't live here anymore. But she'll come around, Renee says children are resilient."

I kept my face firmly planted in his pillow. Half because I was too scared to face him and half because his scent was so strong on it and I didn't want to distance myself from it yet.

I thought he might be going to leave me alone when I felt him get up from the bed. I was about to protest when I felt him slide in beside me. He sat propped up against the headboard and put his hand back into my hair. After a little while I calmed down a bit. The soft rhythmic stoking of his hand and his quiet humming made my body tingle with anticipation. When he slowed his hand I nudged him by moving my shoulder slightly and he returned to stroking me. A few more minutes passed and I felt him slide down the bed a little. He must have rolled onto his side because I could feel the length of his body up against the side of mine. He moved his hand from my hair and began to rub from the small of my back all the way up to the base of my skull. His expert fingers digging and kneading my flesh until I was putty in his hands.

"Do you like that?" He whispered. All I could do was moan my pleasure. He chuckled softly but never stopped rubbing. He leaned over, I felt the bed depress, and then I felt his lips at my neck. "Talk to me beautiful girl." He whispered, blowing his cool breath onto my slick skin after he'd kissed me again.

I turned my face sideways, facing away from him, "I don't know what to say Edward." I mumbled.

"Tell me you like it when I touch you." He rasped as he lowered his mouth to my shoulder. His free hand tugged my shirt aside and I felt the sting of his venom as his teeth nipped me lightly.

I closed my eyes and took in a sharp breath. "You know I do."

"I do, but I need to hear it." He ran his hand the length of my back again and when he got to my nape he wrapped my hair around his hand and pulled it firmly, making my head jerk back towards him, exposing my neck and shoulder more fully. "Have you missed this?" He asked in a hoarse whisper.

I gasped when he bit harder and I felt it deep inside my centre. I dug my nails into the mattress and sighed, "I have. So much."

He let my hair go and wrapped his arm around me at my waist. "Full disclosure has to work in both directions, love. You have to talk to me." He'd succeeded in distracting me long enough for me to calm down, now he wanted to talk.

I couldn't deny him. It was what I'd been demanding of him all this time, after all.

With a sigh I began, "She hates being away from you and it's all my fault Edward. I feel so guilty." I mumbled, pressing myself backwards into him until we fit perfectly.

He kissed my shoulder and pushed his hips outwards until I could feel his hard length against my ass. "I hate being away from her too, but it's not your fault. The fault lies with me, solely with me." He said quietly. He used the arm he had around me to pull me back harder then he wedged a knee between mine and pressed his thigh up against my core. "You taste so good." He moaned against my shoulder.

"Oh god." I whispered when he flexed his thigh and rubbed it against me. "I could've asked what you were hiding from me. I could've insisted one of the others tell me. But I took her away, now she hates me for it." I ground myself unashamedly onto his leg. "So good." I mumbled.

"She doesn't hate you, she adores you, and she's just testing us." He said softly into my ear. He let his tongue flick out and I hissed at the sudden cool sensation of his venom on the shell of my ear. "And you took her away because I betrayed your trust Bella, you shouldn't have ever had to ask."

I turned onto my side and gripped tightly onto his arm as it wound around me. I pushed back harder with my hips and ground myself into his arousal. His hand came up and cupped the underside of my breast making me sigh heavily. "You were so good with her, just the right mix of understanding and authority. I hope she forgives me." I panted as his fingers closed around my already aching nipple. "Harder Edward, please." I begged as his fingers pinched me tighter, sending a blaze of fire directly to my core.

"Come out with me tonight?" He asked out of nowhere.

"Yes." I said without any hesitation.

"Kiss me." He said as he loosened his grip on me so I could roll to face him.

"Yes." I said again as I wound my fingers into his hair and pulled his lips down onto mine.

**EPOV**

Eventually I'd had to let her go. She wanted to go home and get showered and changed, but I had had to work harder than I ever had before to restrain myself so she could actually leave.

She had whispered 'wait' soon after we began kissing and I had been relieved that she'd said it as I was only a few seconds away from having to say it myself. We'd leapt apart and off the bed in a big hurry after she'd said it. I felt shy and awkward after that and had run downstairs to collect Nessa, leaving Bella to gather herself before she had to leave.

I took Nessa into the living room and when Bella came downstairs I put Nessa into her arms and left them to their apologies. I slipped outside and went to find Esme who was digging in the new garden bed at the back of the pool house.

"Hello dear." She greeted me as I knelt beside her and took up one of the little hand held trowels she used.

"Thank you for having Nessa just now." I told her and reached for one of the small flowering plants she was putting into the holes she'd already dug.

"My pleasure." She asked. _'You two sounded as though you were talking for a while there.'_ She thought.

I laughed, "We were talking." I told her. "What makes you think we weren't?"

She flicked some dirt off her sleeve and looked me in the eye. "You reek of her for one and two it was the most disjointed conversation I've ever heard." She giggled softly. _'And three I heard her say wait.' _Her girlish giggles overcame her and she had to cover her mouth with her hand to stifle them.

I chuckled too but tried to contain it while looking disapproving. I failed miserably. "Keep it to yourself, she's inside with Nessa." I told her.

She nodded. "Where are you going tonight then?" She asked as she returned to her gardening.

I back filled the little holes once she'd put the plants into the ground, "Grahams." I whispered conspiratorially.

She gasped, "Really? Oh Edward she'll love that." She knew better than to say too much so instead she used her internal voice to ask me what she wanted to know. _'Will you play new compositions for her?' _

I shook my head, no.

'_Will you play her lullaby?'_ she asked, her hand coming up to hover over her heart as I nodded. '_Oh how romantic.' _She thought. "Can I have Nessa tonight then?" She asked, her eyes gleaming with her excitement.

"Yes please. She'll be asleep soon anyway, she hasn't had her nap today." I told her.

"Ha! Carlisle is on the late shift and Rose and Emmett are going clubbing, Jasper and Alice can bugger off because for once I'm going to have her all to myself." She crowed.

**BPOV**

"Give me a kiss little one." I begged Nessa as I held her in my lap on the sofa.

She leaned forward and kissed me on the cheek with a loud thwack. When she pulled away she was smiling wide. "Sorry I hurt your feelings momma." She lowered her eyes and tucked her chin.

I used a finger to lift her face so I could see her again. "Can you show mommy again what happened earlier?" I asked. I prepared myself to hear what she said all over again but knew she'd understand what I had to say better if she saw my hurt face for herself, again.

She put her hand to my cheek and I watched as my daughter told me she wouldn't come home with me tonight. I gasped all over again when she said I should go home and I could come and visit her here.

She let her hand fall when she got to the point where I'd fled up the stairs. She didn't want me to see her being scolded by her father. I could understand that. I wouldn't want to share it or relive it again either, if it was me.

"I know daddy has talked to you about what you said, but I wanted to as well." I told her as I turned her so her back was to my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight. She put her little hands onto mine and gripped me strongly. "I know you don't understand why we don't live with daddy right now and I know you miss him, I do too. But I am your mommy and daddy and I get to make decisions for you about where you live, and for now I've decided that you live with me, at the apartment." I told her.

"But I don't like it there. It smells bad and daddy and Sethy only come to visit there, they don't stay." She whined.

"I know baby girl, I know. But this is what mommy has decided. I'm sorry it makes you hurt but it's what mommy has decided." I kissed the top of her head. "Now, I think daddy has arranged for you to spend the night here, with Nana-Ne and Pa. So if you think you've finished being naughty maybe we can go and find her and thank her for having you, what do you think Ness?" I asked playfully.

She giggled. "I won't be naughty anymore today." She said firmly. It wasn't lost on me that she added 'today', leaving plenty of room for her to be naughty another day.

"Okay then, let's call them, see if they can hear you even when you're really quiet. Ready?" She turned so she could see my face. "Go."

She puckered her lips up and squinted before whispering very, very quietly, "Daddy, Nana-Ne, come get me."

She kept her eyes trained on the backdoor and began giggling when the two adults came in through the backdoor and ran to where she sat. She squealed loudly when they fought over who was going to hold her.

Esme won. But I think she won by default because Edward wanted to walk me to the car.

I kissed Nessa once more on her cheek and asked her to be good for her nana. I told her I'd see her in the morning and then I let Edward usher me out to the Guardian.

He opened my door, held my hand for a few moments through the open window then bent to kiss my fingers. "I'll pick you up in an hour. Dress casual, we aren't going far. I love you, beautiful." And then he stepped back and let me drive away.

I pulled the car into my parking space and as I was putting my key in the lock I heard my name being called. I cringed when I thought it might have been Mike, and then I remembered he was still in the hospital.

I turned to my left and saw a man that I didn't know coming towards me. He held a package in his hands and he was reading my name off the label. I took a gulp of clean air as he made his way towards me.

"Hi, I'm Steve, I live in number 2, next door." He nodded his head towards his apartment. "Um, the postman left this for you, I signed for it." He smiled and passed me the package.

"Thanks." I held out my hand, "I'm Bella. That was really nice of you, thanks Steve."

He nodded and went back to his own flat. Not the talkative type, thank god.

I took the parcel inside and gulped in air again. Even the stale air in the flat was better than tasty human, but only just.

I put my keys and wallet on the kitchen table and sat down to open the parcel. It was from Edward, of course. His scent assaulted my senses as I opened the wrapping. It was another box of chocolates, the same kind as the ones he'd sent before. Wrapped inside a worn t-shirt of his was my copy of Wuthering Heights, and protruding from the front cover was a lilac envelope.

_To my darling Isabella,_

_You left your copy of this book behind, but took my heart with you..._

_I have been so lost without you near, though your scent lingers on your belongings, I feel as though I shall never truly belong until you are once again mine to hold._

_If you feel calmed or comforted by my scent next to your skin wear this shirt as I wear yours next to mine._

_You are all that I want, all that I desire, but far more than I shall ever deserve._

_With all my love, affection and loyalty,_

_Your Husband,_

_Edward xxx_

I hugged the shirt to me and drank in his scent. The last line struck me deep within my chest. He wanted to return what I was missing, his affection, love and loyalty.

I was starting to believe that he was actually capable of it too. I hoped it wasn't all for show and that he truly could be a mate and a husband for me. I wanted that so badly.

I left the parcel on the table and ran to shower and change so I'd be ready when he came to collect me.

**EPOV**

I pulled the Z4 into an empty parking space in front of Bella's building and took a deep breath before getting out.

As soon as my feet hit the paving in front of her door I smelled an unfamiliar human scent. Someone had stood right here, with Bella from the freshness of her own scent. I scowled as I looked up and down the row of apartments. I traced a line from her door to the next apartment along and sniffed at the door. The scent belonged here. Her neighbour had approached her.

I went back to Bella's door and tried to tamp down my jealousy. I had no way to know if the scent was male or female but knowing my luck, and Bella's attractions, I guessed it was male.

This was what I'd seen in Alice' vision. Me standing in front of her door, shivering with nerves as I knocked.

I opened my mouth to greet her as she pulled the door open but got not a single word out. She gripped my shirt and pulled me inside, slammed the door shut behind me and pinned me to it using her knees and hands.

"I got your letter." Was all she said before she devoured my mouth with hers.

She pushed my lips open roughly with her tongue and then she plunged it inside my mouth. She moaned and sighed as she tasted me. Her hands fisted the front of my shirt, tightening incrementally as she increased the desperation in her kiss.

She pulled away from me with her body but kept my mouth clamped to hers by putting both her hands into my hair and holding it captive while she wrapped one of her legs around one of mine. I could smell her arousal as she parted her legs and I moaned into her mouth. I felt the edges of her lips quirk up as I did and knew she had achieved whatever it was she had set out to.

I put my hands at her hips and pulled her harder up against me, letting her know just how happy I was with the turn of events. I used the door at my back as leverage and pushed myself into her. She growled into my mouth and ground herself up against my length. I let my hands fall to her ass and as I dug my fingers into her soft flesh she writhed and wriggled against me, increasing the friction on my aching prick.

She pulled her tongue from within my mouth and threw her head back, exposing her throat and neck to me. "I want you." She hissed.

"I want you too." I buried my teeth into her throat and felt her shudder in my arms. I sucked the surrounding flesh into my mouth and sucked hard. She shuddered again. I kissed my way from the punctures in her throat up to the hollow below her ear. "Only you, Bella, only ever you." I growled and then pulled her flesh into my mouth again.

She fisted my hair and flexed her fingers, pulling me tight to her. "Yes Edward, only ever you." She hissed as I bit down again.

I shifted my knee so it was pressed between her legs, her hot centre on my thigh, radiating heat across my skin. She pressed down, settling herself onto my thigh as she pressed her breasts up into my chest. We were the wrong way round for me to be able to pleasure her so I gripped her waist firmly between my hands and lifted her off the floor. I settled her against the door, in the place where she had shoved me when I'd come in. She moaned as I pressed my leg back between hers. I slid my hand up under the hem of her shirt and felt my way to the underside of her breast. I used my tongue to feel my way from her ear to her mouth and when I plunged it between her parted lips I pinched her nipple between my fingers.

She cried out and called my name over and over as she ground herself onto my thigh.

And then her cell phone rang.

**BPOV**

Shit! I was so close, he was going to make me cum just standing there and then the spell was broken.

He leapt away from me and I had to work hard to steady myself so that I stayed standing.

"It might be about Nessa." He winced as the piercing ring of my phone permeated my brain.

"It had better be." I growled as I pulled my top back down and marched to the kitchen table. I snatched my phone off it and groaned when I saw the caller ID.

"Hi Ange." I winced. Edward actually hissed.

"Hi Bella, you said to call, this isn't a bad time is it?" She asked hesitantly.

"No Ange, its fine. I was heading out, but I have a few minutes." I told her, and then mouthed 'sorry' to Edward who was now pacing the small space between my armchair and the front door. It was all of five feet but he managed to squeeze three small paces into it before turning on his heel and heading in the other direction for three paces.

"Good, listen Ben and I were wondering if you two wanted to come out with us tomorrow night. It's Friday night, you know, and a whole group of us from school go to this club in Port Angeles on Friday nights and we haven't caught up in ages. It's an all ages thing, no alcohol, but it's got great music and we pretty much dance all night." She was pleading.

"Hang on, I'll ask what Edward has planned." I put my hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Edward. "Do you want to go to a club tomorrow night with Angela and Ben and a few others?" I asked. He shrugged, I guessed that meant it was up to me. "Sure Ange, we'd love to. Can I call you tomorrow and get the details?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course. I'm so excited Bella, I haven't seen you for ages. It'll be great. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Talk to you then, bye Ange." I mumbled and closed my phone.

_Now _I felt awkward. I'd just dry humped my husband and left us both hanging to answer the phone only to agree to go clubbing, with humans, tomorrow night.

I expected to see anger, possibly frustration on his face when I turned around. I didn't expect the cheeky, smug grin I saw. He was still now, standing at the back of the armchair, his hands resting lightly on the back of it. "We have to drive to Port Angeles, we should go." He smiled smugly.

"And you are grinning like that because...?" I trailed off.

He strode to where I stood and took my hand in his, he bought it to his mouth and kissed my wedding rings. "I'm grinning like this because I almost made you cum and I had hardly touched you. The bonus being it wasn't me that instigated it, so I'm feeling a little smug, yes." He lifted his eyes to my face and let the corner of his mouth lift into another smug smile.

He let my hand go and stood to his full height. I lifted my eyes to his and stared at him through my lashes, I watched him lick his bottom lip. "Well then, just imagine how smug you'll be after we spend tomorrow night grinding on the dance floor? Oh, wait, maybe one of my admirers will go and I'll be able to find me a man. Maybe you shouldn't come along, you might mess with my chances." I watched the fire of possession ignite behind his eyes and readied myself for his lunge.

When it came it was fierce and terrifyingly fantastic.

He pushed me back until my ass hit the kitchen counter, he hovered over me, eyes blazing, breath escaping his lips in a rough, urgent pant. "You're mine." He growled menacingly. "If any of them touch you I'll rip their fucking heads off." He spat. "You're mine." He said again as if he was trying to convince me. "Say it, Isabella." He growled fiercely.

There was no point denying him, I had only ever been his. "I'm yours Edward." I told him. "Only ever yours."

He kissed me then, roughly, long and hard. When he pulled away his eyes had calmed to a softer brown but his brow was still creased. "If we don't leave now we won't leave at all. Decide Bella. Stay or go?" He stared me down while I decided.

"Go." I mumbled. I didn't want to go, I wanted to stay, I wanted to have him, but we weren't ready for that yet, and I knew he knew it as much as I did.

Didn't stop him from cursing as he led me to the Z4 though.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you have found something you have enjoyed in this chapter, I would love to know what it was and how it made you feel. If you've found something that's bothered you I'd like to know about that too. **


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34 – Wolves at your door

34.

**EPOV**

I wanted her but I knew it was too soon for that. Didn't stop me wanting to drag her to her bed and ravish her though. I was fairly certain I could talk her into it too. But I didn't want to have to talk her into sleeping with me. I wanted her to want it. I wanted it to be her decision, I wanted her to ask me to have her because without it she couldn't go on. It had to come from her, she had to instigate it and make the decision to keep going. I wanted her to want it so badly it was all she could think about. I wanted her to pant my name, I wanted her to be so breathless that the thought of not having me inside her made her hurt like I hurt with wanting it.

The Z4 felt claustrophobic as we drove through the still night towards Port Angeles.

"Can I ask where we're going?" Bella asked quietly. I was sorry that things were awkward now. I wanted it to go back to being light and easy between us.

"Of course. It's a place called Grahams. It's just a bar, more a lounge actually." I hedged. I wanted the piano part to stay a surprise for now.

"This is awkward, isn't it?" She giggled.

I reached across the console and took her hand in mine. "It is, but it feels a little like being nervous on our first date, I kind of like it, it makes me behave." I chuckled.

"Behave?" She chortled, "I'll believe it when I see it!"

"Do you really want me to behave Bella?" I asked, grinning to myself.

"Not really, no." She agreed.

I chuckled again. "I like dating you, I never know what to expect and it never quite turns out the way I thought it would. I like that, never dull."

"I like dating you too, we never really did, did we?" She seemed to ponder that for a moment then went on, "Dull was never our thing though, was it? I used to wish for dull."

"You're lucky Emmett can't hear you, he loathes dull. He always says things are much more interesting since I met you."

"A quiet life, just you and me and Nessa at the cottage. Wouldn't that be nice though, for a little while?" She asked, turning towards me in her seat.

It's all I'd ever wanted, exactly what she'd described. "I told Carlisle, the day after the christening, when Eleazar was forming his intention to go to the Romanians that I just wanted them all to leave and let us be. I told him I just wanted you and Renesmee, alone with me at the cottage. I got the alone part, just not the rest." I whispered.

"You had it within your grasp, but we both messed it up Edward. Maybe we can try again? What do you think?" She lifted her eyebrows as though she wasn't sure what I wanted.

"I think we're here." I pulled the car around and into a parking space and turned the ignition off. I turned to her and pulled her hand to my lips. "And yes, I'd like to think we can try for it again. Whenever you are ready, say so." I kissed her fingers and then got out of the car to help her out.

I knew it was underhanded, putting the responsibility for us trying to be married again all on her shoulders. But that was how it was going to have to come about. If Bella wanted to come back to me, to come home, to be my wife, it was going to have to come from her lips.

I led us towards the line of patrons lined up outside the unassuming little bar. Bella made to veer right and join the end of the line but I chuckled and steered her to the head of it and towards the two massive men, in traditional bouncer pose, dressed entirely in black and clutching the obligatory clipboard.

"Good evening Mr Cullen." Maury smiled showing off his collection of gold teeth.

"Good evening Maury, Dave. Full house?" I asked blandly, nodding towards the line.

"Yeah, full house tonight. Go on through." Dave unclipped the red velvet rope from its hook and held it aside while I motioned to Bella to move on through it and into the bar itself.

A collective groan rent the air from the patrons in the line as we went on ahead of them. I smiled smugly. Cullen's didn't wait in lines. Bella was smiling too when I searched her face for her first impression of the club. "You've been here before, they knew you?" She asked.

I chuckled quietly, "Yeah, I used to come here a lot, a real lot." I told her as I put a hand at the small of her back and led her to a small table with two chairs to the right of the bar itself. "Will this do?" I asked her as I stood behind her seat.

"Yes, thank you." She was still looking around, getting a feel for the place.

She'd find out soon enough why we were here but for now the illusion that we were ordinary humans on a date needed to be kept. "I'll get us a drink." I kissed her shoulder, making her shiver and headed for the bar.

I ordered two glasses of Riesling and while the bartender was arranging them I took a small step sideways towards the end of the bar and hurriedly scrawled my name at the bottom of the short list there. I slid a bill across the bar and took the two glasses back to our little table. "What do you think?" I asked as I slid into the armchair opposite her.

"I think its beautiful Edward." She smiled and for the first time in a long, long time it reached her eyes.

**BPOV**

I really meant it too. It was a beautiful place. I'd never seen anything quite like it before either. From the outside, where the usual line up had been, it looked like any other ordinary bar or club on a Thursday night.

The line was long, the patrons plentiful and the bouncers menacingly huge. When they'd recognised Edward and spoken to him familiarly I had been surprised. I'd never heard of this place before and wondered when Edward had come here.

As I glanced around I could see _why_ he came here though. It was very Edward. Older in style, probably pretty close to what he would've known during his own time, at the beginning of the last century. It was a huge space but it felt so oddly intimate even though it was already packed with customers.

The long sweeping bar was a rich mahogany and shined like it was made of etched red glass. It had to be thirty feet long as it swept the entire width of the building. There were at least twenty customers perched on red leather studded barstools with groups of talking patrons milling around them while they talked and drank.

The room was as high as a warehouse but the decor was intricately perfect right to the ceiling, no expense had been spared in here. Slabs of cream coloured marble lined the walls and were broken by darker, pinker slabs at regular intervals. On these slabs hung the wall sconces, giant crystal half moon chandeliers that threw off diamond glinted light in all directions, including upwards towards the masterpiece of a ceiling.

It was dotted with hundreds of down lights though the ceiling decoration itself was simple, elegant. It was just split into quarters, each one edged in a strip of the same pink marble. Inside each quarter had been painted a creamy white and from the centre of each hung another chandelier. These were elaborate in the extreme, setting off the simplicity of the paintwork from which they hung.

Strangely enough, amongst all the rich red wood and cream and pink marble the decorators had gone for a startling dark green carpet. Its triangular pattern, outlined in cream, seemed to fit though and was echoed in the dark green strip that ran around the room at chair-back height.

Small groupings of tables and chairs filled the wide expanse of the main floor. But these weren't your ordinary bar tables and chairs. They weren't those awful black plastic, spill proof things that made you feel as though you'd been sitting on a slab of concrete all night. No, these were arm chairs. Real ones. Many of them were wing backed and were complete with push button details in rich red velvets and cream upholstery. They weren't grouped around sticky, beer soaked peeling tables or booths either. There were low timber coffee tables spread about the room with two or more chairs arranged around each of them. They held small tea light candles and ashtrays though the room wasn't filled with smoke like I expected it to be. I could hear the hum of extractor fans and knew it was being taken outside via a vent somewhere.

The people here seemed different too. A little older than your regular bar or club crowd. The men wore dress pants and collared shirts, the women dresses or pants and blouses. No band t-shirts and leather here. Edward and I fit in, him in his trousers and dark navy striped button down, me in black pants and a floaty white blouse.

Another difference was the lack of noise. It wasn't quiet by any means, but it wasn't bustling with the back beat of music or the screams of teenage girls gossiping. It was humming. The room hummed with conversation. I concentrated for a few seconds and heard a couple discussing their upcoming holiday plans, another couple talked about a play they'd been to see recently. There were groups of women but they stood or sat in mild mannered groups and sipped cocktails rather than ran panting after other groups of men who were downing beers as if they were the last ones on the planet.

It was probably too early for the music to begin I thought as I looked about for a bandstand or dj's booth. There was neither. Instead, on another marble plinth at the far left of the room stood a glossy black full grand piano. Bigger even than Edward's at the big house. The bench was empty now but I knew that at some point someone would fill it and the room would still or silence a little and we'd all be treated to someone's talents. The place had that kind of feel to it, an old fashioned piano bar. I sat a little higher in my seat and tried to see if there was the clichéd brandy balloon on the top of the piano for tips and requests. It was there!

The place was ordered and classy. I liked it, a lot. Not least because of the lack of sweaty human bodies all grinding amongst each other. I allowed myself a small sniff of the air around us and smiled when my thirst didn't burst into flames in my throat. It had been two days since I'd hunted and I was finding it more and more tolerable to be around humans every day.

"I love it Edward." I leaned across and took up my glass, tilting it until its contents spilled a little onto the napkin. I bought the glass to my closed lips and held it aloft for the required few seconds to complete the illusion.

"I used to come here a lot. Before you met me I did anyway." He smiled.

"Really? With the others?" I imagined them all sat in these chairs, lounging amongst the humans and soaking up some long missed classic atmosphere. Carlisle in particular would suit this place.

But Edward was shaking his head. "No, not usually with the others." He pretended to take a sip of his drink and rested the glass on the edge of his chair. "Although they have all been here, sometimes with me, sometimes on their own." He said, putting his glass back onto the table and 'accidentally' spilling some of the gold liquid onto his napkin. He righted the glass and looked up at me through his lashes charmingly. "The hours between you getting home from school and Charlie going to bed were somewhat long, for me." He grinned.

I couldn't help but smile. He'd come here as a distraction, to while away the hours until he could come to my room. "So you came here to meet people, to socialise?" I asked.

Again he shook his head. "No, not to meet people. We don't usually socialise either, in case you hadn't noticed, we aren't exactly human-friendly." He chuckled. "I came to play Isabella." He said, his lips turning up into his beautiful crooked smile.

I looked over to the piano and then back to Edward. He was putting the glass to his lips again but smirking as he did so. "You played here? That's why the doormen knew you by name? You came here and played for people. Wow." I blew a breath out over my teeth. "Really?" I couldn't quite grasp what he was telling me but I sure as hell could picture him here playing. It was just the sort of place he would play in. Not some seedy open mike night at a bar filled with drunks. But this place, here amongst these well to do people and the normal conversations I could very well picture my husband. "Will you play tonight?"

His smile increased until his whole face was smiling, "Would you like that, if I played tonight?"

"I would, I'd love it." I whispered feeling the first flutter of excitement in my belly.

"Then I will." He said definitively.

**EPOV**

Her smile was heart stopping and I felt it from my toes to my brain.

I knew there were several others on the list who would play before me so I could afford to relax for a little while longer. Being a Thursday night it wasn't overly busy in the club but there were enough humans there to make me nervous when my time came. I wouldn't be nervous to play for Bella though. That was, after all, what I was here for.

"What will you play?" She asked coyly.

I smiled again, I felt as though I'd smiled more today than I had in the last two months. I liked it. I felt freer, calmer, more in control of myself and our future. "I have a few ideas, some you'll recognise some you won't." I said cryptically. I glanced at my watch and noted that it was 9pm, the first player would make his or her way to the piano in a few minutes and I could listen to my competition.

I loathed being first up. I much preferred for someone else to warm the audience up and I merely follow, soaking up any good will still left in the room. I knew I played well, I always had, even as a mortal, but tonight I wanted to play perfectly. I began to tap my fingers on the arm of my chair idly.

"Nervous Edward?" She giggled.

"Not at all. Impatient actually. It's nine." I turned my head and sought the eyes of the proprietor who I knew would be standing at the end of the bar perusing the list of nominated players for the evening. I found him right where he should be. He lifted his pen by way of greeting me and I nodded minutely to let him know I'd seen.

'_Haven't seen him here for a while. And with a woman this time. Well I'll be...Albie owes me twenty. Told him he wasn't gay.' _I cringed. Why, when a man doesn't have a woman hanging off his arm every moment of every day is it assumed he is gay?

"What's that look for?" Bella leaned over conspiratorially. Her eyes were darting around the room probably searching for the perceived problem I saw.

"If I tell you you have to promise not to repeat it. Do I have your word?" I smirked.

"Sure, I can promise that." She giggled.

I figured, if the joke was to be at my expense anyway, that I may as well make it worth my while. So I pulled on the arm of her chair and when she was close enough to me I leaned over and breathed into her ear, making her shudder gloriously. The first player was beginning his set as I whispered, "The man who runs this bar has just spotted me." I told her, running my tongue along the shell of her ear. "He was thinking that Albie, that's the barman, owes him twenty dollars because it is now obvious, seeing as I am here with you, that I am not in fact gay." I chuckled softly into her ear to let her know I wasn't pissed and then I reached across her and put my hand on her cheek to hold her steady while I assaulted her throat with my lips and teeth.

"Oh god." She whispered once she'd stopped giggling.

'_Christ, he's going to devour her right there in her seat in a minute!'_ I heard in the brain of someone to our left. I let Bella go and righted myself in my seat. "Sorry love, I couldn't help myself." I apologised, though I was anything but sorry.

Another wrong note floated across the room and inflicted itself on my ears and I cringed. Whoever this child was he was no pianist. He was a hack, at best. The crowd was beginning to twitter as he plinked and plonked his way through his chosen piece. The gaps where he took his hand off the keys to turn his pages were appallingly amateurish. I looked at Bella who had her brows knitted together. She motioned me closer so she could whisper. "Is it supposed to sound like that?"

I chuckled long and deeply. I shook my head no. She smiled and put her hand on top of mine on the edge of my chair. Another wrong note and someone near the front groaned.

The conversation lowered as the next player took her seat at the piano bench. She carried no music. She was a young woman, possibly only twenty or so years old and she was utterly terrified. Her thoughts told me this was her first time here and she was here on a dare. I leaned over to Bella to let her know. She nodded and returned her gaze to the plinth.

After a wobbly start the girl shucked off her nerves and threw herself into her chosen piece. And she was good. Very, very good. The murmuring in the crowd slowed and dulled as the girl began to rock from side to side with the wave of the music. She raced headlong, and a little too fast towards the end, but when she hit the last note the room burst into applause. It was polite and reserved but she'd been received far more favourably than her previous competition had.

She thanked her audience and ran off the stage and back into the small group of women gathered around a coffee table near the bar. It wasn't usual to play only one piece but it wasn't exactly a written law that said you had to play more either. It all depended on the player and their confidence for their art.

The owner of the bar made his way to the plinth and announced the next player, when I heard the name I knew I'd be next on the list. This player was someone I'd heard here before. I hoped he'd been practising since then. While not nearly as haphazard as tonight's first player this man's nerves hampered his every note. He cursed himself silently as he plodded through the far too complicated piece he'd chosen. I felt bad for him. In his head he knew he was better than this, and I believed him. His thoughts were so sure that he'd done the work and it was just stage fright that made him miss out the whole stanza in the fourth section. Once again the twittering began in the room and he closed out the piece early, leaving off, deliberately, the whole last movement. He stood, bowed politely and moved as fast as his chubby little legs could carry him through the room and straight out the doors.

I leaned to Bella, "I'm next. Wish me luck, love." I whispered.

"Good luck Edward." She purred giving my hand a squeeze.

God she was beautiful.

The owner had the microphone in his hand again as I rose out of my seat. "We have a treat for our regulars tonight. The return of the prodigal son to Grahams. Please, welcome back my favourite and yours, Edward Cullen."

I heard Bella gasp as the applause rang out. She had no idea how often I'd played here, the kind of reception I'd get as I took the bench. I needed no sheet music so had nothing to distract my nervous energy towards so I simply got myself comfortable and put my feet at the pedals in readiness.

I flexed my fingers as all pianists did, loosening my knuckles and steadying my thoughts before I began. I placed my fingers on the keys, looked to where my beautiful wife sat, threw her a smile and lowered my eyes back to my hands.

And then I was away, her lullaby singing for me, for her, for our marriage and our love.

**BPOV**

As the first notes of my lullaby rent the air I couldn't help the sob that clawed its way out of my constricting throat. It had been so long since I'd heard it. So long since he'd last hummed it to me as I slept and so long since he'd played it for me as I lay in our bed in our home.

I clutched at my chest as he played it now. He swayed gently as his beautiful hands moved the length of the keyboard in front of him. His bronze hair shining in the overhead light. His lips pursed in deep concentration as the notes floated magically from his touch.

He made that piano his that night. His baby grand at the big house sounded so beautiful but didn't even come close to the sound he could produce from the full sized one in the club. When Esme's favourite began there were gasps of appreciation from all around the room.

A man at the table beside me leaned over, "Your husband is very talented." He whispered. All I could do was nod.

I'd never been more proud in my life. I watched the rapt faces of the crowd as he played on and on. Finishing Esme's song he moved on to Nessa's. I closed my eyes and saw them sitting side by side at his upright in the cottage. A warm flood of love moved through my body as I remembered her giggles and his laughter as they played together at the big house.

A piece I'd not heard before began to float across the room as Edward played. He had to concentrate on this piece, it must have been new. He bowed his head lower over the keys and bit his lower lip as his fingers flew over the keys. This composition was darker, more serious than his collection of lullaby's. The crowd shifted in their seats as all the pain, anger and angst flowed out of Edward and into the music. He built the tension by filling the middle with soft, twinkling notes that seemed to calm the listeners, almost making them believe that whatever pain he'd experienced while writing this part had dissipated. But I knew better. I knew Edward.

When the softness made way for the agonised crescendo I was one of the few who didn't gasp. I'd known it was coming. This was our story. This was our life together. His agony and his loneliness while he waited for me to grow up clearly expressed in the beginning of the piece. His love and happiness in the middle shining through in the calmer almost gentle notes. And now, where we were right now along our journey, the agonised rendering of love seemingly lost. It was crushing, heart breaking.

But I knew how I wanted it to end. I wanted to go home.

When he took his hands from the keys and stood the room erupted into a barrage of catcalls, whistles, applause and the howling begging for more.

Edward bowed but shook his head. The clapping and cheering continued as he stepped down from the plinth and made his way to where I stood, clapping with the humans.

He stopped right in front of me, reached for my hand and drew it to his lips. He kept watch on my face as he bent his head to kiss my fingers, "Isabella." He whispered across the back of my hand.

He stood back up and I flung myself into his arms. I covered his face with kisses and held him tight. "That was so beautiful. I love you so much. So very much." I told him as I kissed him over and over.

I couldn't have cared less that a whole room of humans was watching as we stood there in each other's arms.

"I love you too, my beauty." He whispered against my ear.

**EPOV**

I played two more sets that night, at Bella's insistence, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it.

I mixed it up with some old pieces and some newer ones. But I only played my own work. A few others played in between and some were quite good, but they all played noted works by other composers. I much preferred to play my own.

Bella and I talked for hours lounging in those armchairs and enjoying the atmosphere. It was a very calm place to be. There were hundreds of mental voices of course, but they were civilised ones. Casual conversations continued in every group in the room but they were calm, soft and mostly honest ones. I had always liked it here, I could play and it was both comfortable and elegant. But the main attraction for me was the piano itself. A Steinway Concert Grand with perfectly toned sound and it was as glorious to play as it was to see.

I had always wanted one for myself but they were colossal things and far too big to comfortably have in any house we'd ever lived in. One day I would though. I had time.

The human crowd began to dissipate at midnight as they went home to their beds in order to rest before work the next day.

When I suggested I take Bella home she asked me if I was interested in hunting first?

"It's been a long night in here with them." She nodded towards the humans.

"Come." I reached for her hand and drew her from her seat. I put my hand at the small of her back and began to lead us to the doors.

We were stopped for a few seconds by Graham who asked if I'd be returning again soon. I was about to say that I'd think about it when Bella spoke for me.

"He'd love to. You have a beautiful club." She nodded at the clearly dazzled man.

I nodded to him as I led her outside. Once we were in the car and heading back towards Forks I had to explain to her why I couldn't hunt with her.

"Bella, I can stand guard over you while you hunt, but I can't hunt with you, love." I said quietly.

She sighed. "Oh, okay." She sounded disappointed and I couldn't suppress my smile.

"You understand?" I asked.

She nodded.

I parked the Z4 beside the Guardian at her apartment building and we slipped around the side, down along the fence line and out into the trees. We ran hand in hand for a few miles and then I stopped and swung myself up into the branches of a tall tree to sit watch.

"I'll be quick." She whispered as she tore off after her prey.

I kept my mind open to the sounds around me and listened with rapt attention as she drained a large male deer a half mile away from where I sat. Even only listening to it got me hard. The satisfied purr she made as the blood flowed down her gullet, the soft sigh as she shoved it off herself. My imagination could show me how she'd look and I remembered licking the small droplet of blood from her plump bottom lip the first hunt we'd shared. I slid my hand over the button fly of my jeans and tried to will my erection away. But as she came towards me it was a futile wish. I smelled the blood she'd just consumed and as it mixed with her scent I closed my eyes and drank her in entirely.

As her scent intensified I slipped off my branch and hit the ground and only a few seconds later she was at my side, reaching for my hand for the run to her home.

We walked calmly back through the yard and under the patio. I waited while she unlocked her back door and then we went inside as if it was nothing unusual to have gone for a walk in the woods at 1am.

Once inside she leaned against her kitchen counter holding her hand out for me to join her there. I stood between her legs and let her pull my mouth to hers. She tasted of her fresh kill mixed with her venom and my knees buckled under me as the flood of desire burst within me.

She let my lips go and ran a trail of soft wet kisses along my jaw and into my ear. "Stay with me." She whispered before licking my neck.

I closed my eyes and replayed the request. I'd waited so long to hear her say it, to ask it of me, but it wasn't what I wanted. Not really. I didn't want her _here_, I wanted her in our own home. When I had her again, for the first time, it would be in _our_ bed.

"I can't." I rasped against her throat. She pulled away then and I was forced to look into her hurt eyes. "Don't look at me like that, please Bella." I ran a hand through my hair, "I want you, you know I do, but I can't stay here with you. This is your house, not mine. This is your space, not ours. I don't want you here, like this."

She nodded minutely. "Okay." She whispered. "I get that, I suppose." She stepped away from me and I walked towards her front door.

I turned just before it and took her back into my arms. "I had a great time tonight Bella, I hope you did too. Will you come to the big house at first light, please?" I asked hopefully.

"Sure." She said quietly. "I did have a nice time, you played so beautifully."

I smiled widely, "Thank you for saying so, I'll play better when my muse returns." I hinted. I kissed her at her temple and rolled her wedding rings through my fingers, "Call me if you need me, I'll be here. Good night Bella, I love you." I kissed her again and then I pulled the door shut behind me.

**BPOV**

Whoever was watching me tonight was going to have to put up with my bitching because that's what I spent the rest of the night doing.

I cursed a blue streak as I attempted to make the hours go by faster.

I cursed as I cleaned the horrid little kitchen from top to bottom. I cursed as I cleaned the bathroom and I cursed some more as I changed Nessa's sheets and remade Seth's trundle bed. I bitched and moaned through an hour of shit night time television and then I huffed and puffed my way through another hour of obsessively opening and closing my cell phone.

It was all very well to have all the hours of the day and night available to you when you had something to fill them with, but when you didn't they stretched out in front of you like a big, useless black hole.

At five I was well and truly over being alone. I snatched my phone off my dresser and dialled Edward. He picked up on the first ring.

"What's wrong?" He answered.

I laughed, "Nothing's wrong, I'm just bored."

He sighed. "Me too."

I took the phone with me and lay on top of the covers on my bed. "How did Nessa's night go? She didn't try to eat nail polish or something tonight?" I tried making a joke.

He laughed. "Not that I know of, no. What did you do tonight after I dropped you off?" He asked, his voice going up at the end like he was fishing.

"Not much. I cleaned mostly. Watched some TV, what about you?" I asked, hoping his night was better than mine had been.

"Not much. I read for a while, took a shower, listened to some music, flicked through some photos you took a few months ago." He sounded as bored as I was.

"Before you knew me, like before I was five, what did you do with your time Edward?" I asked, rolling onto my side and getting comfortable. Which for me, these days, consisted of pulling one of his shirts up to my nose and inhaling.

I heard him inhale too and wondered if he'd just taken a hit from one of my shirts. "That's a very long time ago Bella." He chuckled. "It's been nearly fourteen years since I had nothing to do with my time that didn't involve you in some way. I guess I played or wrote music mostly. In the very early years, when it was just me and Carlisle, we studied. It was my first time through college and he helped me at night."

I didn't know that about him, or very much at all about his relationships with his family, only the order in which they came to be a family. "Tell me more Edward. I know so little about your life really, tell me about what you did before I came along and messed you up." He sighed and I heard the mattress shift under his weight. I knew it was dangerous ground but I just had to ask one more thing before he began his tale. "Are you in your bed Edward?"

"No Isabella, I'm in _our _bed." He sighed. "I remember you in it, I don't like it much without you." He said very quietly. "So, tell you something about before you came along and made my life worth actually living?" He brushed off the solemnity of his previous statement expertly and turned my teasing into something that made me smile. "Okay, before I found you I would go with the others to clubs just like the one we went to tonight and I'd play. But it was different back then. Life was slower, less stressful for humans and they liked to go out at night and just sit and listen, sometimes dance. The clubs all had live music really early on, jazz mostly but some piano and when rock and roll started that too." He spoke with real affection for music, as though all the genres interested him.

"Do they all like music then?" I asked.

"They do. Rose especially, but you knew that. Carlisle likes all types having spent such a long time listening to it evolve I suppose. But I like books too, like you my little book worm." He said jovially.

"I do like my books, yes." I agreed. "Nessa does too, so far. Did you know she asked if there was more Tennyson for her to read? She will over take us so fast." I sighed. "She'll probably be finished college before I even start."

"At least if the three of us went together I could keep boys away from her." Edward grumbled.

I laughed which made him hiss softly. "Which reminds me. Did Emmett tell you I had a visitor yesterday afternoon?" I picked my words carefully just in case he lost his temper.

His growl startled me and I dropped my phone, but not before I heard him hiss, "I leave you alone for five minutes and the wolves come knocking on your fucking door."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Things are slowly working themselves out for this pair which is good news for me! It's so much nicer writing them happy than it is filled with angst. Please review if you think I've done an okay job getting them to this point. **


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35 – Renewed Vow

35.

**EPOV**

"Edward? Are you there? I dropped my phone." She giggled.

I was there I was just needing a minute to get a grip before I began speaking again. "I'm here." I told her. "Now, you were saying you had a visitor?" I asked as calmly as I could muster.

I ranged my hearing out around the house to locate Emmett. The fucker hadn't said a word to me and I'd not been near him long enough to read anything from him. Out of them all he was the worst at blocking me, so now I knew why he'd kept his distance today.

Bella giggled, "Yeah, Tyler came by but Emmett answered the door. Poor bastard got the shock of his life. Ran off down the road shouting that Emmett was a psycho." She laughed.

I laughed too but it was half hearted. "What did he want, do you know?"

"A lady never tells, Edward." She giggled.

"Fine, while I'm at the school tomorrow I'll ask him myself." I knew she wouldn't want that.

"No!" She bellowed and _then_ I laughed. "I mean, you can just ask Em, don't corner him at the school, please Edward, you don't want any trouble." She pled.

"Hmm. I'll speak to Emmett first chance I get." I heard Emmett scoff two floors down. "The sun will be up soon, how long until you're coming?" I asked, changing tack.

"How soon do you want me there?" She asked.

"Now." I didn't hesitate.

She chuckled, "Well let me get off the phone then and I'll have a shower and get changed and be there soon."

"Bring me your shirt?" I asked.

"Only if I can have yours."

"Of course. So I'll see you soon, love?" I asked.

"You will. Bye for now Edward."

"Bye Bella, I love you." And then I hung up and went in search of my chortling buffoon of a brother.

I found him on the sofa playing Xbox with Jaz.

"You looking for me bro?" Emmett asked but didn't look up from his game. I sat on the end of the sofa and watched as he decapitated a leather clad henchman then lit a warehouse on fire using a bazooka.

"Bella have a suitor come calling yesterday, did she?" I asked grimly.

He scoffed and Jaz dropped his controller. "You didn't tell me that." Jaz cuffed Emmett on the shoulder.

Emmett shrugged, "No big deal. That idiot Crowley turned up at the apartment but I sorted it. Nothing to worry about, he won't be back." Emmett grinned showing all his teeth.

"Nice." Jaz held his fist out and Emmett bumped it.

Emmett turned to me and offered me his fist, I bumped it gratefully. "Thanks bro." I mumbled. "I have to go to the school today to meet with the principal, he's going to tell us what Seth's punishment is going to be."

"He'll be right, after your meeting he's got no choice but to let the kid stay." Jaz said encouragingly.

Carlisle came in then, strode through the front door and clapped me the shoulder. "I have just removed Mr Newton's nasal packing. Poor lad." He shook his head gravely. "It's rare, but sometimes the packing is in too tight and it gets stuck. Messy business having to dig it out again. Hurts like a bitch, so I'm told." He didn't laugh but he was smiling widely. "Sorry Esme." He mumbled looking towards the first floor.

Both Jasper and Emmett fell about laughing.

I just shook my head.

Carlisle tilted his to one side. _'I used the paediatric forceps, scared the shit out of the little bastard. He cried like a two year old when I started digging, and the best part is his nose is crooked.' _He told me via his thoughts.

I held out my hand and he shook it. "Thanks." I muttered low.

"Don't mention it." He replied and made off towards the staircase. He stopped just as his foot hit the bottom riser, "Oh, I may have under estimated the amount of pain he was likely to be in over the next few days and prescribed only a placebo." He crinkled his eyes up in mock embarrassment. Then he darted up the stairs to his suite.

**BPOV**

I knocked on the front door when Edward wasn't in the driveway to greet me.

Esme opened the door and with a shake of her head she pulled me inside. "You don't ring the bell Bella, you come in because this is your home too." She hugged me tightly then told me to go on up to our suite.

I hadn't seen Nessa since late yesterday afternoon and I was desperate to touch her, smell her, and see her. I heard the shower running as I went up the stairs to the third floor. I assumed Nessa would be in her room while Edward showered, but I was wrong. Her scent struck me full force as I walked into the suite but she wasn't in there.

Then I heard them. They were in the shower together. Edward was humming and she was copying him. They were talking, very quietly, about the composition they were working on together. I hadn't known that they were.

"That part is too slow daddy, should be adagio, not adagio asai." Nessa huffed.

"I suppose it should be, yes. Let's try it that way." Edward said and they both began humming again. "De capo little one." Edward began to hum and Nessa followed perfectly.

I moved into the room and took a seat on the sofa. I wished I could've gone into the actual bathroom and watched or listened, but I couldn't bring myself to do that, so I sat and listened as they continued their discussion.

"In altissimo now Nessa." Edward said. I had no idea what that was but they began humming again only higher. "Now lacrimoso." He chuckled and Nessa began to wail in between giggles.

Edward joined in and then they hummed it together again, with Nessa's little pretend cries in between their shared giggles. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard.

"We could begin allegro strepitoso just like Liszt's Tasso does daddy, mommy would like that." Nessa suggested. I was utterly shocked. I'd heard of Liszt but had no idea what the rest was about, so how the hell did my six month old daughter know and understand it?

"She would," Edward agreed. "Potremmo giocare per mamma come tornare a casa presenti, il mio amore." (We could play it for mommy as a coming home present, my love.) Edward said in what I assumed was Italian, but could've been almost anything.

"Sì papà, quando mamma viene casa di rimanere con noi." (Yes daddy, when mommy comes home to stay with us.) Nessa replied in a strong clear voice.

"Good girl Nessa, you've been practicing." Edward praised her. "Now let's get out and get you into a pretty dress, mommy is waiting for us already."

I sucked in a breath, he knew I was there.

**EPOV**

I had smelled Bella much earlier than I let on verbally. I wanted her to hear how much Nessa had learnt and how easily she was learning languages. Plus, if I was honest, I wanted her to have to come into the bathroom and collect Nessa from me while I was half naked.

I stood Nessa on the bath mat and wrapped her in a towel then draped one over her hair. I pulled a towel from the cabinet for myself and wrapped it around my waist.

"Bella, love, would you collect Nessa please?" I called out.

"Um, sure." She hesitated just long enough to let me know she was nervous about coming in here with me undressed. Good.

"I'm decent." I chuckled.

She cracked the door open two inches and peered inside. When she was satisfied that I was covered she opened it fully and Nessa ran into her mother's arms.

"Good morning little one. I missed you." Bella kissed Nessa and Nessa flung her arms around her mother's neck and held on tightly.

"Mommy!" She shrieked. Nessa had missed her too.

"Come on, let's go in your room, let daddy get ready." Bella kissed Nessa once more on her cheek and then turned to leave. Just as she got to the door she turned her head over her shoulder toward me. "Good morning Edward." She grinned. Her eyes travelled from my feet to my face and back again. I heard her suck in a breath and felt the sting of desire begin in my gut. "You're looking...good..." She whispered and then licked her bottom lip before giving my abs another glance.

I couldn't help the growl that rumbled out of my throat and Bella chuckled softly when she heard it. She took Nessa into the other room then, leaving me to deal with the fast growing problem in my groin.

Jesus!

I set about distracting myself. When I was dry I brushed my teeth, shaved and made my usual attempt to tame my hair. It was as futile as ever. By the time I was ready to go back into the suite I was calmer, not sedate, but calmer.

I could hear Bella still wrestling Nessa into her clothes so I took the chance to dash out into the room and dress.

By the time I went into Nessa's room the little girl had on a sweet little white dress and some silver ballet slippers. Bella was making her bed and tidying the room while Nessa tried to pull a brush through her own hair. It was as ineffectual as the attempt had been with mine. "Let me." I said softly so I didn't startle her.

She put the brush into my hand and climbed into my lap as I sat in the rocker. I brushed her hair from crown to tip over and over until it was dry and shiny. The curls were so long now they almost reached her waist. They corkscrewed up to half that length once her hair was dry, but when it was wet it was a long, dark curtain of bronze. Because I'd showered her in our bathroom it smelled of Bella's shampoo and with each stroke the scent wafted to my nose.

'_Mommy's looking at you funny, daddy.'_ Nessa thought and I blinked out of my thoughts and sought Bella's eyes.

She was standing in the middle of the room watching us. She was trembling, in her hand Nessa's giraffe Frank shuddered and shook. Her face was a mask of pain and anguish.

"What is it, love?" I asked her.

I thought she would tell me what was bothering her, in fact I was sure she would because over the past few weeks we'd gotten pretty good at just telling it like it is, but today she just shook her head.

I got worried then. "Bella, please, what's wrong love?" My voice shook.

It looked like she was wrestling internally with whether or not to tell me. She shook her head again and as I was about to ask she closed her eyes for half a second, opened them wide and stared down at me, "I want to come home Edward." She whispered.

There was a collective gasp/sigh from within the house, the girls gasped the guys sighed and I was flooded with thoughts on the revelation she'd just shared.

Her hand flew to her mouth, covering it as though she couldn't quite believe what she'd just said and I thought for a few seconds that she regretted admitting it.

Alice was already running up the stairs, coming to collect Nessa, so I slid her off my lap and walked her to the door that separated her room from ours. "Aunty Alice is going to take you downstairs for some breakfast little one." I told Nessa as Alice came hurtling into the room. "Thank you." I told her softly as I let Nessa go and watched her reach for Alice' hand.

'_Take her home Edward, we'll watch Nessa. Take your time.' _Alice thought as I slowly turned back into the room to face Bella.

She was still standing right in the centre of the room though Frank had fallen from her hand. I moved towards her and took that hand into mine, leaving them both to hang beside her hip. "Bella, sweetheart, its okay." I told her. She blinked rapidly but didn't utter a sound. "Come on, we'll go to the cottage and talk about it, come on love." I tugged her hand gently and led her out of the room into our suite.

I knew she wouldn't want to face the family, she'd heard them gasping and sighing and speculating as clearly as I had. So instead of leading her to the stairs I led her to the glass doors and we fell to the ground with a dull thud. I squeezed her hand softly and then she ran beside me towards the river, past the jetty, through the forest and to the newly replaced front door of our home.

I pulled the key from my jeans pocket and unlocked it, pushing it open wide for her. When she didn't move I went inside and held out my hand for her to follow. She took the step over the threshold reverently, her eyes scanning the living room and kitchen for any changes. There were none to see, I'd only been here the once since she'd left. It was all as she'd left it. Apart from the front door, which I hoped I wouldn't have to explain.

"It's the same." She whispered. She moved a little further into the living room and ran a hand over the edge of the upright. She flared her nostrils and drank in the smells here. "Can I please come home Edward?" She whispered, her eyes still closed.

It broke my heart that she felt the need to ask when it should've been me begging her to come home all along. But I knew her well enough to know that she'd never concede like that, this had to be her decision.

"I want you to come home Bella." I told her. "But it is your choice, always your choice. You don't need to ask me, love."

**BPOV**

I could see from the look on his face that he meant it. He wasn't going to ask me to come home and he wasn't going to try to assist me in making the decision for myself. He really was going to let this be my choice. I loved him for that. For not ever, not once pressuring me. For letting me come to my own conclusions, make my own decisions even though they would ultimately affect both him and Renesmee.

I ran my hand over his piano again and tried to imagine how they'd both look sitting there composing. It seemed such an awful long time since I'd seen or heard it. I ached from wanting it.

Everything was just as it had been the day I'd left it. The portrait over the mantle stared down at me, it seemed as though it was castigating me for leaving it behind.

"May I?" I nodded down the hall.

"Bella, this is your house as much as it is mine, you don't need permission to be here, to see things, to touch things. They're your things for Christ's sake." He whispered. I could feel the emotion in his voice but couldn't meet his eyes.

I nodded once and turned down the hall. I stood at the study door for a long minute and looked over our things. The row upon row of books that smelled so inviting to me since I'd had only a handful of novels to tide me over. His journals were gone and I noticed his satchel wasn't on the wing chair where it normally was. It made sense that he'd take them both with him to the big house, he was never without them close at hand. "Have you slept here?" I asked, knowing he'd hear me.

"No." He said softly from the living room.

I went further down the hall and stood in the doorway of Nessa's room. The broken string on her dream catcher taunted me as it swung minutely in the breeze I'd created simply by moving about. She was so desperate to be here, in this room, she identified with this space more profoundly than anywhere else, even the nursery at the big house. This was her space. Not an extension of ours, this was solely hers.

The crib was already outdated, she'd need a bed here too. So would Seth.

"We need to get two beds for here Edward." I whispered.

"I'll arrange it today." He replied.

I took a deep breath and moved towards our room. The door stood open so I slipped inside and put my hand on the dresser to steady myself. This was my marital bedroom. I'd only ever lived here as Mrs Edward Cullen. I'd never been Bella Swan here, I'd only ever been his in this room, part of a pair.

His scent lingered here strongest. It was caught in the drapes, the bed clothes and his things as they sat neatly arranged on the top of dresser and his bedside cabinet.

I hated the space where my jewel box should've stood. The empty silver photo frame was a bleak, blank reminder of how I'd felt the day I'd packed the images from within it.

I sat on the edge of the bed and closed my eyes. "If I come back here, to live, I have to have your word that you will never lie to me again Edward." I mused. "I have to hear you say it, to swear to it." I ran a hand over the blanket on the end of the bed and drank in our mixed scent as it rose from the fabric. "If I come back here I want you to swear that you'll be my husband, my mate and that you'll fight beside me."

He walked at human pace down the hallway. He stopped just short of the doorway and I heard him draw in a deep breath.

He stepped up to the threshold and stared at me. "Isabella, I swear to you on all that I hold dear, I will never keep anything from you again. I can't, I won't, I refuse to lie to you ever again. No matter the consequences I'll tell you all that I know." He spoke softly, his hands in tight fists at his sides. He took three small paces forward and breathed deeply again. "I want to be your husband again. I can be. I know I can be. I can make you happy." He said it almost defiantly, as though he was waiting for me to argue with him. Another three small paces into the room he unclenched his fists and ran one through his hair. "As my mate there are going to be times when I need you to fight _for_ me Bella, in front of me even. As your mate I'll always fight beside you. Let me show you, prove it to you, please."

He was stood right in front of me now. His entire body was pulsating. The raw energy he was withholding as he spoke was barely contained inside his skin. He truly believed this, what he'd sworn to, with all that he was. I could see it now. His determination to be what I needed. He knew me now. He knew what I needed because he'd taken the time to hear me ask for it and he'd bothered to learn it.

"Okay Edward. I'll come home." I lowered my eyes from his face and looked down at my clasped hands in my lap, not knowing what to do now that I'd said it.

**EPOV**

Relief flooded my mind and body and I fought the need to topple. I closed my eyes tightly and took stock of myself. "Thank you." I whispered. There was so much to say, I wanted to spend hours thanking her but couldn't find the words. "Thank you." I told her again.

She reached up and put her hand into mine and squeezed. "Thank you." She whispered in reply and I knew then, right then, that we were going to be okay.

I fell to my knees and put my head into her lap and sobbed. "Thank you." I choked on the words but needed to keep saying it. I never wanted her to think I wasn't grateful for the chance she was giving me. "Thank you Bella, thank you."

She began to stroke her fingers through my hair and I moaned in relief. It had been so long since she'd touched me like that, touched me for my comfort, for hers. "Shhh Edward, it's okay." She whispered.

I nodded into her lap and tried to calm my erratic breathing and the clawing need to sob.

I felt the vibration of my cell phone before the ringing reached my ears. I groaned. Not now!

"You should get that." She whispered, patting me on the shoulder.

"It'll be Alice." I chuckled darkly. "We're far enough away from Nessa, she'll have seen this. She'll want to meddle now."

"Let her Edward. Let her be happy for us." She told me as I looked at the caller ID.

Alice.

"Yes Alice?" I said by way of answering.

"I'm so happy Edward, so happy for you both. So, tell Bella that we'll take Nessa with us to the apartment – don't worry though, Rose is going to sort out her car seat - then Jasper's going to hire a van and bring her things there to the cottage. Then Esme is going to start sorting out her room for her, Emmett's going to order her a bed right now. Seth says good job and he'll come to the cottage after school for his visit. Oh, hang on...Carlisle says well done and he'll see you both tonight when you bring Nessa for her visit." She was about to hang up, she'd said all she thought she needed to say.

"Wait Alice." I told her firmly. "Don't move. Don't organise anything. Don't hire anything and don't buy anything. I'll call you back, ten minutes." I didn't wait for her to argue I just snapped the phone shut on her.

I threw the phone onto the bed and stood, reaching for Bella's hand. When she was stood in front of me I slid my wedding ring off my finger, making her gasp in shock.

"I know I said I'd never take this off, and I meant it at the time, but I need you to remind me why I wear it Bella. Put it back on my finger and tell me again." I held it out to her and she took it between her fingers.

She held my left hand in her right one and slid the ring to my first knuckle. "You wear this because you pledged yourself to me, only me, Edward. You wear this because it's an unbreakable circle, like us, never ending. You wear it because you vowed to love me forever, protect me forever, and forsake all others for me. But I hope you wear it because you love me." She slid it all the way onto my finger and I curled my hand into hers.

"I swear to you, again, right now, that I will love you forever, I will protect you forever. There will never be anyone or anything between us, nothing will ever make me break my vow Bella, nothing. I wear this because I love you now and on into eternity." I bent and kissed her softly at the corner of her mouth.

"I love you too Edward, always. Thank you for giving me the chance to love you." She got up onto her toes and kissed me back.

I felt giddy with happiness. This felt as good, as satisfying as the day I'd married her. Knowing she'd chosen me, again, despite the monumental cock-up I'd perpetrated previously, she loved me enough to try again. I'd be forever grateful.

I wanted her home to stay right now, right this second, but knew that this had to come from her. I appreciated the family's excitement, I felt it too, but I knew Bella well enough to know that she wouldn't be hurried. There was an order in which she'd want this done. She might not want to move back in right now, maybe not even today. I had to give her the choice, always her choice.

"The family is poised to have you and Nessa out of the flat within minutes and installed here again by sundown, but I don't want them to do that without your say so, love. This is your move. We'll do this the way you want it done. You just tell us what you want to do."

I rubbed my hands up and down her arms while she thought it over.

She blew a breath out over her teeth and sought my eyes. "It's complicated, isn't it?" She asked and I nodded. It was complicated, it always was for us. "There's a lot to do, I want to do it right. I haven't talked to Rose or Jasper yet and I wanted to do that before I came home. I should talk to my parents too, let them know what's going on. And you're due at the school for the meeting with Harry and the principal. All my stuff needs packing up and then I'll have to get rid of the furniture, it won't fit here. And I want to sort out Nessa's room here before she comes back to it. We're supposed to be going out with Angela and Ben tonight and then there's Seth, we'll need to sort out that mess too. Oh Edward it might take a couple of days. I'm so sorry, I know you want me here right now." She wailed, her face crumpling.

I held onto her firmly, trying not to let my disappointment show. I could afford to be gracious now, she'd given me all that I hoped I'd regain, I could be patient and let her do it in her own way now. "It's alright love, I was prepared for that. Truly I was. Look at me Bella." I waited until she tilted her head up a little so I could see her beautiful topaz eyes. "I meant it, we do this your way, in your time. A few days is a drop in the ocean compared to eternity, I can wait a few days love. I promise." I bent to kiss her and felt her relax against my chest.

She wound her arms around me and held me as I held her. I deepened the kiss only slightly but pulled away as soon as I could. I could be patient, but not _that_ patient.

"I'd better call Alice." She grumbled knowing it was going to be a hell of a conversation with my sister.

I shook my head. "No Bella. I'll tell her. She'll have already seen it, but I'll call her, love. You've made your decision, she'll live with it. You go on ahead to the house, I'll follow in a few minutes."

"Are you sure, I can tell her." She didn't look too convinced and even though I'd rather she told Alice – it was never pleasant having to spoil Alice' plans, or her fun – I could do this for her. Making her transition back into the family as easy as possible was going to be my first priority for a while. She didn't deserve to feel pressured or put upon. Not when it was her that was the only innocent one in all this.

"I'm sure Bella. Go on love, I'm two minutes behind you." I kissed her cheek and she kissed mine.

"I'll see you up there." She turned and ran out the bedroom door and when I heard the latch on the front door click I sighed and opened my phone.

This was going to be unpleasant.

"I've seen it." Alice was pouting, I could see it as clearly in my mind as if I was standing right in front of her.

"Let her do this her way Ally, please?" I pled.

"Fine. Come on back." She gave in much faster than I thought she would.

**BPOV**

I didn't envy him having to stand the family down. I hated that they had to, but it was what was right for me. We needed to take our time with this. I wanted to do it right. And Edward was right, this was to be done at my pace, not theirs. They gave up their right to do things their way when they kept me in the dark. If they wanted me to come back into this family they'd have to let me do it my way.

I didn't hurry back to the house. Edward would need a few minutes to calm Alice down and then the rest of them would need to be told and then they'd need a few minutes to undo whatever plans they'd already put into place.

I jogged to the jetty and then waited. The house was still a hive of activity. I could hear Emmett cursing from the third floor about having to pull down and then reassemble Nessa's crib. Rose was trying to calm Esme down as she hurriedly cleared away her sketch books and sample cards off the kitchen counter.

Jasper was still on the phone, having a rather heated debate with a hire company by the sounds of it, about how much notice he needed to give to rehire the van he'd just un-hired. Alice was in the room with him and every time he cursed she hissed.

The only normal sounds from the house were from Nessa and Seth. It was as though they were untouchable, unshakable. They were in the kitchen. Nessa was eating grapes and drinking maple syrup off a desert spoon while Seth asked her quiz questions from his social studies homework.

I could hear Edward then, coming up behind me through the forest. I waited at the jetty for him. He slid his arm around my waist and held me close while he buried his nose in my hair. "Are they nearly done?" He chuckled.

"Nearly."

"They mean well." He kissed the top of my shoulder and I shivered.

"I know. How was Alice?" I cringed.

"Who cares?" He chortled. "This isn't about Alice, this is about you and what you need from us. They'll deal." He punctuated that with a loud kiss planted firmly on my neck. "Come on, let's go and see how well they pretend shall we?"

I had to laugh at that. I knew he could hear their thoughts and I wondered if they were planning to just pretend nothing had gone on. It wouldn't surprise me, Esme was brilliant at that.

When we went in through the backdoor Seth called his hello and Nessa bounced off her kitchen stool and came to us, but other than that there was no sign of the family.

With Nessa on my hip I went in search of them while Edward sat with Seth, trying to convince him to keep studying even though he didn't yet know where he'd be going to school after today.

On the first floor we found Alice and Jasper in their suite seemingly happily reading in their window seat. They almost pulled it off too. They went well, right up until Nessa spoke.

"Mommy loves daddy again now so we are going to stay in the other house again." Nessa announced matter of factly. "Sethy says I should pretend not to notice when they are doing kissing." She shrugged as though she could take or leave that advice. "Sethy says I should stay in bed and not go looking for you and daddy in your room for some days this week. He said I might see things I shouldn't see. Do you have presents in your room?" I didn't know what to say so I said nothing. To my extreme mortification she wasn't finished. "Sethy says he will stay with me, in my room, when you are doing the kissing. He's going to read his school work with me so don't worry momma."

The little monkey actually patted my cheek at the end of her speech as if she was doing me a favour.

Alice and Jasper did their best to stifle their laughter but it was too much for Emmett and Rose. They both burst out into the loudest guffaws which were matched in intensity only by Edward's burst of exasperation for Seth.

Esme was in stitches higher up in the house, probably in her studio, but it was Alice who broke the silence first. She flew off the window seat and ran to where Nessa and I stood. She took Nessa from me, kissed her on the top of her head and called her a 'brat' playfully and then she pulled me to her and hugged me tightly.

"I love you Bella. I'm so happy you're coming home. Take your time, we'll be here. Let us know what you need done, we'll do it." She let me go and took a step back. "You won't regret it." She told me with a small smile.

"Thanks Alice. Sorry to ruin all your plans Jaz." I said over Alice' shoulder.

He waved his hand as though it was nothing. He pulled a struggling Nessa up into his lap and let her turn to hang over the windowsill to look out the window. "They'll keep." He nodded. "Welcome home darlin, it's not the same when you're not here."

"Thanks Jaz." I didn't know what to say other than that.

"If it suits you I'll be needin a few minutes of your time today?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow.

I smiled, he was approaching me before I got a chance to ask to speak to him. God I loved him, he was such a good guy, such a sweetheart. "Sure Jaz, when Nessa goes for her nap yeah?"

"Done. I'll find you." He nodded and went back to watching Nessa who was pointing out a small sparrow as it pecked at the ground in the driveway. "We could go out there and scare it if you want." He whispered conspiratorially to the bouncing little girl.

"Jaz." Alice admonished.

Jaz looked to me and grinned, he cocked his head in Alice' direction, "This from the girl who helped whip a pride of lions into a frenzy." He scoffed.

**EPOV**

I was mortified! That Seth had seen fit to advise Nessa of things like that was horrifying to me. Bella seemed to have shrugged it off, but I was affronted.

Seth was just sitting opposite me at the kitchen bench grinning while he finished his breakfast.

"I could flog you for saying things like that to her, she's only a baby Seth!" I seethed across the bench top.

He too shrugged it off, "Nah, she's smarter than you and me put together. Besides, she asked me what she should do when you two 'do the kissing'." He used his fingers to do the quotes, his face was a wide smirk as he did.

"She did?" I couldn't wrap my head around that. "Shit." I groaned.

"Edward!" Esme called from the top floor.

"Sorry Esme." I mumbled, that was getting old. I wasn't a kid anymore.

Seth was chuckling now, thinking about how weird it was to be in trouble from Esme when I was a dad myself. Funny how two of us could be thinking exactly the same thing at exactly the same time!

"What's the plan for when I'm expelled?" he asked solemnly, suddenly changing tack.

"You won't be expelled." I said confidently.

"Yeah, I will be. Newton is still all busted up and there were heaps of witnesses. Don't forget I tried to hit a teacher too." He winced.

"You won't be expelled." I said again. "Newton had it coming, there were witnesses to what he said too don't forget and as for the teachers, well, they'll have to agree that anyone would come up swinging after what you'd just heard." He looked up from his plate to stare at me. "I'm not saying you won't be in a tonne of trouble, you are going to be in detention till you're twenty, and who knows what other delightful punishments he's going to concoct, but he won't expel you." I nodded firmly, that was an end to it as far as I was concerned.

"If you say so." He mumbled.

"I do. So best you keep studying that," I pointed to his open book, "Nessa kicked your ass just now. Sorry Esme." I got in before she had a chance to sigh or grumble.

"Yeah, she did." He laughed. "I wondered, like, if it wasn't too much of a hassle, seeing as I'm here all the time anyway, when Nessa has her lessons can I do them too?" He ducked his head at the end as though he was embarrassed to ask.

I listened to his thoughts for a moment before answering. When I saw what his worry was I smiled. "She's going to overtake us all, son. That's nothing for you to be ashamed of, she's just got a massive capacity to learn, it says nothing about you. And trust me, she's still going to want you even when she's done learning, which she probably never will be." It was sweet that he worried about things like this but it would've been sweeter had he been worrying about them with someone else's daughter.

"If you say so." He mumbled again.

I wasn't sure how to reassure him so I left it alone. There was six and a half years to work this out, plenty of time for him to come to terms with Nessa's extraordinary capacity for information. He wasn't a bad student himself, just easily distracted. He'd had plenty to distract him this past few months too. I hoped, as my life settled down, his would too.

"I'm going to head off soon to collect your father, you coming?" I asked, knowing he had no intention of leaving Nessa while he had the chance to stay with her during the day.

His smile was wide and filled with bright white teeth. "Nope, I'm staying here. I'm taking Nessa swimming." He announced.

I huffed and went upstairs to say goodbye to Bella and the others.

I got Bella on her own on the landing between the first and second floors and kissed her thoroughly. She was going to stop in town for packing boxes and tape and then go back to the apartment and start getting her things ready to go back to the cottage. I was so fucking excited about having her come home I was ready to ditch the outside world and hide out with her, annoying her until she was packed and ready to go to the cottage.

"Are we still going out with Angela and Ben tonight?" I asked her as I stood poised to descend the staircase.

"I guess so." She shrugged. "I'll call her later for the details."

"So I won't see you until then, right?" I asked, hopeful that she'd ask me to come over.

"I guess not." She sighed. "But, if you had nothing else planned you could, maybe, if you wanted to, bring Nessa home later..." She was going to continue but Alice came out of the suite just then.

"Oh please," She said theatrically, "Edward, she wants you to go over and help her pack. Bella, Edward wants to go over to your place and help you pack. He'll bring Nessa home then. Sorted, good." And with that she went back into her suite.

I smiled at Bella who was giggling softly. She came towards me and kissed me softly on the lips. "So I'll see you later at my place."

I kissed her back and nodded.

I reluctantly, very reluctantly dragged my carcass out to my car.

As I drove toward the Rez to collect Harry I ran over the events of the morning. By the time I had him sitting beside me on the return trip to the school I was almost convinced I hadn't dreamt it!

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you have found something that has piqued your interest in this chapter please review. If something about it has bothered you please review and let me know what, so that I may fix it. **


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36 – Naughty Schoolgirl

36.

**EPOV**

The principal was not pleased to see Harry waiting for him, and even less pleased to see me.

'_Will I never be free of this fucking kid?'_ He wondered as he led us into his office.

"Have a seat." He grumbled as he took his own. When we were both settled he opened a file on his desk and sighed. "I've spoken to dozens of students that were in the cafeteria that day and only those sitting at Mr Newton's table heard him being disrespectful to your wife and daughter Edward." He waited for me to comment, so I did.

"I see. So you do have statements from students, at Mr Newton's table, no less that confirms his intention to sell my daughter over the internet at his first convenience?" I asked with a blank face.

'_Jesus, I wish he wouldn't say it that way, little punk.' _He thought. "Well, I wouldn't put it that way, but yes. I do. What interests me is how Seth heard what was said from two tables away, when the students at tables either side heard nothing until Seth approached Mike."

I said nothing. There was nothing to say. He hadn't formed any theories so I gave him none.

When he saw that neither of us was going to comment he flipped the file open again and said, "I've spoken with the Newtons and as you can imagine they are very unhappy that their son has been assaulted. Their medical costs will be substantial I'm afraid." He said this gravely even while he was thinking that with the kind of money my family had it would be a drop in the ocean and one of us, probably Carlisle whom he referred to as 'Dr Fucking Perfect' in his brain, would cough up the money without hesitating.

"I can assure you the bills will be taken care of." I said with a forced smile on my face.

"Right. Of course they will." He huffed. I'd confirmed his thoughts so he was moving on. "In light of the nature of Mr Newton's comments that day, his parents would like this to go away without too much fuss. They've told me that as long as their bills are settled they won't press charges and Mike won't have anything further to do with either Seth or your wife and child. I'm sure you can agree this is more than generous on their behalf?" He said spitefully.

"I can agree no such thing, but will settle their bills none the less. What do you intend to do about Seth's continued attendance here?" I asked. I was now in no mood to be pleasant. The principal might have thought that the Newtons were being generous but I thought the Mike Newton hadn't nearly gotten what he'd deserved that day.

"Well, he cannot go unpunished, of course. Fighting, and this is his second offence in only a few months don't forget, cannot be ignored here. He'll have detentions three days a week after school and two days a week during his lunch hour until the end of term. He will be excluded from all social events for the rest of the semester and he will be required to attend an anger management course with our guidance counsellor." He thought smugly. He was waiting for either Harry or me to object to his terms but I'd asked Harry to remain silent unless the principal actually began to talk about expulsion. Anything other than that was a bonus and we knew it.

I looked at Harry who said nothing and showed nothing in his expression as we'd agreed prior. "Done." I said firmly, rising from my chair and offering my hand across the table.

The shock on the principal's face was fantastic. He'd expected us to argue, but we knew Seth could've inflicted much more damage than he did, and was actually getting off lightly. "Oh, right." He put his hand across the table and shook mine. He noted the chill from my skin but said nothing, his thoughts returning to whether or not a visit to 'Dr Fucking Perfect' might be worth it if it meant extended leave. "I'll expect him Monday as usual, he can begin his detentions then."

"Excellent, he'll be here. Thank you for your time." I nodded at Harry who hastily shook hands with the sweating man and followed me out of the meeting, his thoughts barely contained.

When we got to the Aston he let his delight out. Loudly.

I had a new fan, it seemed.

**BPOV**

I had a neat row of boxes packed and stacked in the hall by the time Edward arrived back from the big house with Nessa. My room only contained the furniture and a few spare sets of clothes to get me through the next few days – plus an outfit for the club, everything else was in boxes already.

The bathroom was empty, it hadn't had much in it anyway and the linen cupboard only held two towels and a face cloth of Nessa's.

"I could put some of these boxes in the Guardian? I could take them to the cottage and bring your car back when I come to collect you for our date." Edward suggested.

"Sure, that would be great, thanks." I told him, smiling all the while. I went to where he stood in the kitchen and turned my back to the counter and leant on it. "We don't need this furniture at the cottage though, any ideas what could be done with it?"

"Oh, um, when we don't need things anymore we donate them to the appropriate charities. What about a women's shelter? There is always someone there who is trying to make a fresh start, and usually with nothing." He suggested with a shrug.

I leaned over and kissed his temple. "Perfect. I'll make some calls."

He leaned back towards me and shoved my shoulder lightly. "You're pretty perfect yourself Mrs Cullen."

"I miss my blush. Never thought I'd say that." I giggled.

He took my hand in his and began stroking my palm with his long pale fingers. "You might think it was your blush that gave away your feelings to me, but it never was. It was your eyes. Jaz might be the empath but I can read your eyes Bella. Oh and, just between you and me, the way you pull your bottom lip between your teeth is fucking hot." He purred.

Good god, what he can do to me just with his voice! I stared up into his darkening eyes and giggled, "You're pretty hot yourself." I shied away from saying anything else. It was getting harder and harder to resist him and the problem was he knew it. I'd have to change the subject if I had any hope of resistance to him. "I was wondering what you thought about something. Tonight, while we go out, do you think Rose and Em might want to come here to sit with Nessa? Sort of give them a chance to have her on their own for a bit? Or do you think that would put Alice and Jasper out?" I asked.

He thought on it for a second. "Can you explain why you think Rose and Em need to have her on their own?" He asked, cocking an eyebrow.

He reached out and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear and I shivered at his touch, making him grin smugly. "Well, I know how long Rosie has struggled with not being able to be a mom. I figured Nessa is as close as she's ever going to get, as close as either of them is going to get, to being a family that contains a child. It might be nice for them to play house before I give this one up." I shrugged.

His smile widened as he moved towards me. "You, my dear, are so very lovely. I think they'd love that. Why don't you give her a call and ask." He kissed me on the cheek and ran his thumb across my cheek, making me shiver all over again.

I grabbed my phone off the kitchen table, "You keep packing." I pointed to the open boxes on the floor in the kitchen. When he saluted me I had to laugh. I took my phone outside under the patio to call Rose.

"Sam's garage, you've got Sam." He answered efficiently.

"Hi Sam, its Bella." I announced, happy to hear his voice.

"Hey Bella, so good to hear from you. Rose tells me good news at your end yeah?"

"Yeah." I agreed.

"I'm real pleased for you guys and I know Seth will be happy about it too."

"Thanks Sam, I appreciate that. Listen, is Rosie free for a minute?" I asked.

"Sure, sure. I'll get her for you, hold on." He put me on hold and half a minute later Rose answered.

"Hello favourite sister of mine." She answered brightly.

I was shocked, she'd never spoken to me that way before. "Um, hi Rose. I was calling to ask a favour. What are you and Em doing tonight?"

"Nothing that I know of. I'll probably just hang around and wait until the stupid goon is finished playing some moronic Xbox game. What are you guys up to?" She asked.

"We've been asked to go to an all ages club with Angela and Ben. That's why I'm ringing, you see we need a sitter for Nessa." I said hesitantly.

"Well there's always someone at the house, bring her on by, Esme won't mind. Isn't she there to ask?"

"I haven't asked Esme, I'm asking you Rosie. Look, tell me I'm wrong or I'm meddling or it's a shit idea, but hear me out first, okay?"

"Okay." She said carefully.

"Well, in a few days I'll be leaving the apartment but for now, at least, it's a home that contains a baby. It even looks pretty human. I thought you and Em might like to play house for the night?" I cringed at the odd way I'd explained it. It had sounded so much nicer when I'd told Edward my idea.

I waited a moment while she thought on it and then I heard her sob. "Oh Bella thank you. Thank you so much. You don't know what...thank you...it's so nice...thank you...I can't believe you want ...oh thank you." She was rambling.

I'd never heard her so inarticulate before. It was rather sweet. "You don't need to thank me, you're doing me the favour remember?" I laughed.

"You know that's not true, but thanks for saying so." She sniffed. I imagined her using the back of her hand to wipe her nose and the smear of grease she's have on her face afterwards. "We'll come by when Ed collects you, he is collecting you isn't he? God I hope he's doing this right." She mumbled.

I giggled, "Yeah, he's collecting me and yes, he is doing this right. The perfect gentleman."

"He's an idiot Bella, gentleman or not he's an idiot, we all are." She said softly.

"I'll talk to you about that tomorrow Rose, but yeah, he's a bit of an idiot too." I giggled. "I've got another call, I'll see you tonight." I told her hurriedly.

"See you then." She rang off and I clicked the button to accept my waiting call.

"Hello." I said.

"Hey Bella its Angela. We still on for tonight?"

"Yeah sure. Where and when?" I asked.

"That's why I'm calling actually. I want to meet your little girl but if we meet at the club I won't get to see her, so I wondered if it would be alright with you if Ben and I came to Perry Street first and we all left from there?" She asked.

"Oh, um, okay, sure I guess that's okay. Rose and Em are sitting for her tonight so they'll be here, but of course you can come and meet her Ange, I'd love that." I told her truthfully.

"Great. Ben and I will come by at half six, see you then!" She shouted excitedly and then rang off abruptly.

**EPOV**

I'd heard her call me an idiot and wondered what I'd done now.

She was smiling when she came back inside though, so whatever I'd done, or not done, couldn't have been too bad.

"Angela and Ben are coming here before we go out. They want to meet Nessa. We'll have to coach her how she should behave."

"No problem, I'll talk to her before they come." I assured her.

She came to where I was in the kitchen and put her arms around my middle, hugging me softly. It was blissful. "What's that for?" I asked playfully.

"I'm getting my fill of you before you bugger off and let me talk to Jasper." She mumbled against my chest.

"Oh, I'm leaving now am I?" I chuckled.

"Yeah. You are." She put her nose into my shirt and inhaled deeply. "Can I have your shirt now?" She asked.

"The deal was I get yours in return, remember." I chuckled.

She let me go and took a step away and then without warning she drew her shirt over her head and flung it at me. It hit me right in my gaping mouth. She was bare underneath it. Braless and totally fucking gorgeous.

"Well? I want yours now." She chuckled as she bought both her hands up to cup her bare breasts. Her tattoo was pitch black and raised. "Edward?" She said my name to get my attention.

"Huh?" I mumbled. "Oh, right, yeah, sorry. Shit." I dropped her shirt onto the counter and dragged my own over my head and held it out to her. She took it from my hand and threw it onto hers on the counter.

I listened for a quarter of a second to Nessa's dreams to make sure she was still asleep. She was. I returned my attention to the goddess before me.

She let her eyes travel from the waistband of my jeans to my throat and back down again. She licked her bottom lip once then took a small step towards me. Her arms were still folded over her chest but as she came closer she let them fall to her sides. "Don't move." She whispered as she tilted her face up a little to meet mine. "Be very still." She whispered again.

Another half step closer to me she licked her bottom lip and I groaned. As she came up against me I felt the explosive shock of her skin as she pressed herself against my unclad chest. "Don't move." She whispered again.

There was not a chance in hell that I'd move and ruin this moment so I did my best to stand as still as possible, all the while fighting the urge to cup my hands on her flesh and devour her.

"Ahh." She whispered so very softly as her naked chest covered mine. She wrapped her hands around my waist and I felt her clasp them behind my back. Her head was tucked under my chin and I drew in a very careful breath, inhaling her scent as it mixed with her shampoo.

There was no point fighting the erection. I could mask it about as well as she could mask the scent of her own arousal. Not at all.

I felt her fingers splay out across my bare back and moaned. She raked her fingernails lightly across my flesh and as she let them travel higher, up towards my neck, she inhaled against my throat. "God." She whispered. "Why is it like this?" She asked. I felt her tongue wash across my Adams apple and shivered. "Why do I crave you Edward?" She asked again. I had no answer and gave none. She pulled a little flesh on my neck into her mouth and suckled it gently. I wanted so much to touch her in return, I wanted to grab her and have her, but she'd asked me to remain still, so I would. As best as I could anyway. "Why is your scent so maddening to me?" Her questions were interspersed with soft licks and gentle nips of my skin and I was about to lose control.

I slipped my feet wider and slid down a little, bringing her face to face in height. I put my hands on her hips and gripped her tightly, holding her still. "Bella, honey, you need to stop now." I told her as firmly as I could without actually wanting her to do any such thing.

"I know, but I don't want to." She whined, smiling broadly.

She let her hands fall away from my back and I groaned at the loss of contact. I reached sideways and grabbed our shirts. I held mine above her head until she raised her arms and then I slid it down her body, hiding her beautiful breasts from me.

I slid hers on and tugged it until it was stretched enough to fit. "I'll get you another." She giggled, eyeing the pale blue daisies. She ran down the hall and came back with my own shirt from yesterday. I pulled it on over the top of hers.

"Thanks." I smirked. I pulled the collar of hers out from under mine and held it to my nose. I looked back to her and noted the darkened eyes, slightly panting breath, moist lips and her hands in fists at her side. She was as close to losing control as I was. I needed to leave or I never would. "I should go and you should go and put a bra on before Jaz gets here."

She giggled. "Okay."

I reached for her wrist before she could leave the room again. I tugged her back towards me, up against my chest and kissed her firmly on the lips. "I'll be back at six. I love you."

"I love you too." She purred against my lips.

I drove home in a love filled haze.

**BPOV**

"Will you let me explain my part in all this before you say anything?" Jasper asked me as we sat on the sofa in my living room.

"Sure, but you don't need to say anything Jaz."

"I do. I should have, a long time ago." He reached for my hand and took it into his. His touch was stronger than Edward's, more forceful, as though he was dreading what he had to say. "I put off telling you – and voted not to – for selfish reasons Bella. It was hard enough living with Edward and Alice as they went through the motions of trying to work out what was coming. I couldn't add your fear and torment to it. I was weak and selfish and I'll be eternally sorry for it." He bowed his head.

"It's okay Jaz, really it is. I don't think you're selfish at all. Hey," I used my free hand to tilt his chin so I could see his eyes, "Do you remember the night of the christening, when we were dancing and you told me that this is what they do? They get in a huddle, they come up with a plan and then the rest of us are let in on the trouble? You asked me to be patient, so I was. It was good advice." I told him honestly.

He was shaking his head though. "How can you say that? How can you say that being patient was good advice? You were patient and even after I was let in on the details even I kept it from you."

"Yes you did, and like all the others you had your reasons. I'm not angry at any of you, other than Edward of course, for keeping it from me. You all had reasons for voting no, or yes. But your reasons, especially, I can understand. The others wouldn't _feel_ the fear like you would. Sure, they'd be worried and upset and frightened, and I would've been too, but nobody would've had to live with their own fear and everyone else's. Jaz, I'd have voted no if I were you too." I put my hand on his cheek and smiled. "You're a great brother Jaz, you really are, and you're a great uncle too. Will you forgive me for taking Nessa away?" I asked.

He blinked hard then sprang from his seat. "You're asking **me** for forgiveness?" he tried to temper his voice but it was still loud.

I listened for Nessa but she didn't stir. I stood from my own seat and took his hand in mine. "Yes, I am asking for your forgiveness. I was wrong to run. I should've stayed and fought. It's been so very hard to make right, after I ran away." I mumbled.

He squeezed my hand and used it to pull me to him. His cinnamon tinged scent was strong as he held me to his chest. I wrapped my arms around his back and hugged him back. He was such a sensitive soul, such a beautiful man and I knew he felt things very deeply. "There is nothing to forgive, but I'll beg for yours." He whispered, kissing my hair.

I stepped out of the embrace and smiled, "No begging required. This is a begging free zone." I chuckled. "Now, seeing as you're here already, you can help me pack up the telly." I bent down and grabbed an empty box from beside the coffee table and shoved it into his hands.

He laughed, "That's it is it? I say I'm sorry you say thanks, business as usual?"

"Yep. That's it. You can tell everyone I'm your favourite sister if you like."

"I will." He smiled and set about unravelling the mess of cords behind my television.

**EPOV**

"Dude, all I'm saying is, you have a perfectly serviceable shower stall in your _own _home, go make shower babies there!" Emmett bellowed at me from the second floor.

I was mortified beyond belief!

"Fuck off Emmett. I've put up with your sexual proclivities for sixty years!" I shouted back not caring that Esme was tutting and sighing in the kitchen.

"I didn't say there was anything wrong with it dude, hell, I've had to regrout my shower twice and we've only lived here a year." He laughed heartily at what he thought was an amusing statement.

"You're perverted Emmett." I mumbled as I pulled on my dress shirt over Bella's t-shirt.

"No way, it's only perverted if I call **your **name at the end dude." He hollered.

"Emmett Cullen you watch your mouth young man." Esme shouted from the kitchen. A weak 'sorry Esme' was whispered from Emmett's suite. _'Eddie-the-pale-white-knight never gets yelled at for cussing.' _He thought.

What the fuck sort of name was that? "What did you just call me?" I bellowed down the stairs as I went towards the front door.

"Nothin, just go to Bella's, we'll be there at half six." He grumbled.

"You better not talk shit like that around my kid Em." I warned as I hit the front stairs.

At ten minutes to five I was sitting, in the idling Guardian, at the end of Perry Street waiting for the fucking clock on the dash to click over another minute. I was desperate to get to her. I was so close to having all that I'd ever wanted, again, I was suffering badly from being away from her even for an hour at a time.

Jasper said their talk went well but wouldn't elaborate and asked me not to pick the details out of his head. He said it was private, between him and his sister. I did my best to respect that.

To distract myself I concentrated on the mental voices I could hear around me. The couple in the house outside which I was parked were having a heated discussion about whose fault it was that the garbage bin had not been put out the night previous. Oh to have such mundane things to worry about!

Another house along was playing a CD of 1960's music. Someone was singing along, quite badly, but obviously having a great time. The house next door contained one very unappreciative fan of the singer. They were contemplating banging on the adjoining wall with the broom handle.

I inched the car forward until I was sitting outside Newton's house. Crowley was on the internet playing Runescape – whatever that was – and Mike was in his own bedroom feeling very sorry for himself. He'd not slept last night and was cursing Carlisle's 'useless pain killers'. I snorted my laughter into the quiet of the car. I should feel bad that he was in pain but found it very difficult to dig that far within myself. I'd signed a check to pay his medical bills and to ensure Seth's continued attendance at the school today and was feeling less than sympathetic. Not because of the money, it was a pittance really, but because Newton had no intention of living up to his end of the bargain. He was looking forward to being back at school in a few days where he could confront Seth. He planned to antagonise the boy further, to see if he could get Seth to lose his temper again and get himself expelled.

I'd have to talk to Seth about this, and Emmett, and see if something could be done, off campus of course.

As the clock ticked over six I rolled down the street to Bella's parking space. I parked next to the Z4 and ran a hand over it as I went towards Bella's door. I knocked and waited as patiently as I could for her to answer.

When she did I gasped, loudly. "Oh by Christ, you can't be serious?" I mumbled as I went past her into the living room. I turned to look at her again, from head to toe she dripped sin. Jesus, it was going to be a long, long night. This reeked of Alice' hand. "Alice has been here I take it?" I asked as Bella began to grin.

"What makes you say that, and hello by the way." She came to me and kissed me lightly at the corner of my mouth. She smelled fucking divine too!

"Holy crap." I muttered. "You can't go out looking like that Bella." I ran my hand up and down in front of her to demonstrate which parts I disapproved of, which was pretty much all of it.

"I can and I am." She chuckled.

Nessa came running out of her room then. "Daddy!" She squealed and leapt into my arms.

"Hello my beauty. I missed you this afternoon." I told her as I kissed her warm little cheek. She smelled of baby soap and Bella's shampoo. Her pink pyjamas had little feet in them and a bunny's tail on the back. She was so adorable. "I need to talk to you for a little minute before mommy's friends arrive." I took her with me to the sofa and sat her on my knee. "Mommy's friends are humans, so they don't need to see how clever you are or how very well you can talk, alright?"

"Okay daddy. Just like when I go with Nana to daycare, I have to be like other little babies. Quiet and stupid." She zipped her lips and threw away the pretend key.

I couldn't help but laugh, she was so gorgeous and so much fun. "That's right my darling. Quiet and stupid." I chuckled. "Now, I need a minute with mommy. Will you go back to your reading? We'll come get you when mommy's friends arrive okay?"

"Okay daddy." She toddled off to her room quite happily.

I went to Bella who was standing behind a kitchen chair watching our exchange. She clutched at the front of my shirt and pulled my mouth to hers. "You're so hot when you're being a daddy." She purred against my mouth.

"Jesus woman, are you out to torture me or is it just coincidence that you will?" I asked, watching as she crossed into the kitchen. Her ass was only just covered by the thin film of her skirt, her magnificent legs were six feet long and perfect beneath the plain sheer stockings she wore. "What do they call that...the skirt thing...?" I asked waving my finger at her bottom area.

She giggled, "Its tartan Edward. And it's just a skirt, nothing fancy." She bent over the sink slightly to fill the kettle from the tap and I got a glimpse of her white panties.

"It looks like a school uniform though. Men will think you're dressed as a naughty schoolgirl Bella." I swiped a hand through my hair and sucked in a breath. "It's too fucking short by half."

Her top would've been perfectly acceptable had there been three more buttons at the top. As it was the white fabric was stretched taut across her breasts – which were quite clearly encased in a chaste plain white bra, which was worse than had they been squeezed into a black half cup push up bra because it added to the illusion of innocence – and she had an acre of pale white flesh at her throat exposed.

"No they won't Edward. It's just a skirt and plain white blouse. Don't be silly." She purred.

As she reached up to grab mugs out of an overhead cupboard she lifted a foot off the ground and that was when I noticed her shoes. Holy fucking hell. This was bad, this was very, very bad. "Bella, what are those?" I pointed to her feet.

She looked down at her feet then back up at me. With one eyebrow cocked she threw me an exasperated scowl, "They're shoes Edward, god."

They weren't just shoes. They were four inches high and they were black patent leather with a little strap that crossed over her ankle and did up with a silver buckle. They were positively criminal. "They aren't just shoes." I mumbled knowing I would get no joy out of her. She had made up her mind what she was wearing, with help from Alice, and that was that.

When she'd set the coffee things out on the bench she came to where I stood at the end of the counter. She put her arms around my waist and stared up at my face. "Don't pout Edward." She giggled. "I just wanted to look nice for you."

I put my hands on her shoulders. "Did you now?" I chuckled. "And it was never your intention to torture me? It never crossed your mind that I was going to have to spend the entire night hearing the thoughts of other boys as they looked at you like this?"

"Oh, well, maybe a little bit to the first part and yeah to the second. It did cross my mind. But I decided that since we were married you'd be confident enough and secure enough in our relationship to be able to handle all that I figured I'd go for it. I hoped you'd like it. Plus, I'm a mom now, how often am I going to get a chance to dress and act my age from now on?" With that she patted my cheek and went to the front door which had just been knocked on.

**BPOV**

I was never going to pull this off!

Alice had insisted I could, she'd taken great care to pick out my outfit, apparently.

I took a deep breath before answering the door to my friends.

"Hi Angela, Ben. Come on in." I told my friends.

"Hey Bella. Wow, look at you!" Angela sang as she past me at the door.

"And you!" I waved a hand at her. She was stunning. Her glasses were gone and her hair was all curly and sexy. She wore the tightest, skinniest jeans I'd ever seen and her heels were killer. Bright red and dangerous looking. Ben was positively panting at her as she walked into the kitchen to greet Edward. "Looking good Ben." I giggled as he did a little twirl in front of me on his way towards Edward too.

Edward greeted them both warmly, fist bumping Ben and saying how nice Angela looked.

"I don't mean to be rude, but I'm dying to meet your little girl." Angela swung around to say to me. "Newton said her name was Vanessa?" She asked.

"Her name is Renesmee actually. But we call her Nessa for short. Newton's an idiot." Edward muttered darkly.

"I'll go and get her." I told them as I made my way down the hall. "Come on little one, come and meet our new friends." I told Nessa as she launched herself off her bed and into my arms.

She put her hand to my cheek and played her conversation with Edward again for me. "I'll be good momma." She whispered as I bought her out into the living room.

"Ange, Ben, this is Nessa." I told them proudly.

They both gasped at her and then they were both cooing and chatting to her and she was positively angelic while they patted and talked to her. She had them both utterly entranced by the time Rose and Em showed up to babysit.

Edward got the door and showed his brother and sister into the living room. I saw Rose scowl at Angela briefly as my friend took my daughter from my arms. "She's so beautiful Bella." She said across Nessa's head to me.

"Yes, she is." I agreed. "I'll just finish getting ready and we can go. Five minutes." I told Edward who nodded at me but then returned his attention to his daughter and her newest admirers.

I went into the bathroom and reapplied my lipstick and messed around with my hair a little. I went into my bedroom and put my cell phone and house keys into the tiny purse Alice had sent over with Jaz. It was bright red and matched the tartan of my indecently short skirt. With one last look at myself in the mirror I went out into the living room announced that we should get going.

I thanked Rosie and Em for sitting, they waved it away as if it were me doing them the favour. I kissed Nessa on her curls and asked her to be a good girl. Edward did the same and then he ushered me outside and into the Z4.

We left Angela and Ben behind within two minutes of hitting the highway, Edward chuckled as they disappeared from his rear view mirror.

It was time to wipe the smirk off his face. "You once told me I'd be the hood ornament on this car Edward, I hope you weren't lying." I licked my bottom lip and smiled sweetly into his shocked face.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you have enjoyed this chapter, I had a great time writing it, I do love torturing Edward. :)**


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37 – The Last One

37.

**EPOV**

The parking lot was so full we had to park in a side street to get anywhere near the place. We waited by the car until Ben came down the same street looking for a space. They were a full ten minutes behind us I thought smugly and patted the hood of the Z4 fondly. When Ben noticed us I waved a hand at the spot behind us and he pulled into it.

The two girls began giggling and gossiping the instant we started the walk to the club. Ben strode beside me thinking about my car and Bella's legs. One thought I was okay with, the other not so much.

"So, a dad at seventeen huh?" Ben asked as we walked. He was thinking how awful it would be to be our age and stuck with a baby, someone else's baby at that. He wondered if Bella and I would really make it now that we had this responsibility. He really had no idea and I couldn't fill him in on just how wrong his thoughts were.

"Yeah, it's great." I told him as sincerely as I could without seeming to fawn.

"Cramps your style though, right? This would be the first time you two have been out at night I'd bet."

"Not at all. The family have been great, and Bella's parents too. We've been out nearly every night this week. A wine bar at on the water front here, we've been dancing and last night we went to the club on East First Street, Grahams, do you know it?" I asked. Why I felt the need to explain our social life was beyond me, but I did.

He shook his head, "Nah, never heard of it. Any good?"

Bella turned then, looking at me first and then at Ben, "It's fantastic." She threw me a wink and then she turned back to her conversation with Angela.

Ben just stared at me.

I couldn't help the smug grin that I had on my face as we came to the front of the club. A huge neon sign bearing the name 'Far Out West Club' hung over the canopy that covered maybe fifty bored teenagers as they waited for their turn to enter.

As she did last night Bella tugged Angela by the hand and they made their way to the right, to the end of the waiting line. I shook my head, surely she knew me better by now?

I went to Bella and took her other hand. "We don't wait in line sweetheart." I whispered to her so low no human could've deciphered it even if they could've heard it. I looked to Angela who was staring at me with one eyebrow cocked. "Our names are on the list, come on." She grabbed Ben's hand excitedly and they followed Bella and I to the head of the line.

Because I was a Cullen, and because I wasn't stupid, I'd phoned ahead. When we reached the doors the usual pair of meathead bouncers was waiting for us. This being an all ages club, meaning no alcohol was served, they didn't need this much muscle, but I suppose the owners thought they were a good deterrent for any trouble. To me they looked exactly what they were. Two huge men with steroid induced muscles and minimum wage night jobs.

'Craig' – his name tag said that was his name, although I doubted it – looked me over from head to toe and decided he was absolutely petrified of me. Even if my name didn't appear on his list he was going to let me in, and anyone else I cared to say was with my party too. "The name's Cullen." I said matter of factly, making Ben scoff quietly behind me.

Craig made a show of checking his clipboard – why do they all have to have a clipboard? Wasn't this 2010? Have they never heard of a Blackberry or an iPhone? – then raised his eyes back to mine. "Um, yeah sure, the VIP section is on your left as you go in. Have a good night."

He didn't even wait to see how many I was taking in with me; he just wanted me away from him. That suited me just fine. He opened the doors and as we went in I listened for the usual moaning and grumbling about us 'rich pricks' and how we always get in everywhere the easy way. Honestly, what was the point in being rich if you couldn't get into places the easy way? Besides, it wasn't money that had gotten me into the club easily, it was confidence. I'd simply phoned the club this morning and requested to reserve the VIP section. I gave my real name and didn't bother to wait before saying there would be four of us, at least, and that a favourable review would be given if my party and I could be ensured a pleasant evening.

I wasn't a reviewer and it had cost me nothing to get in, so being rich just wasn't the issue. It all came down to confidence.

The music was loud and had more bass than necessary but it didn't bother me and I knew it wouldn't bother Bella either. The humans, however, winced as it hit their ear drums.

I guided them to the roped off VIP section and waited for Bella and Angela to slid into the booth. I let Ben in on the other side and then sat opposite Bella.

"How the hell did you pull that off Cullen?" Ben asked, impressed.

"I know the owner." I said blandly. No need for anything else to be said. "Order whatever you like, it's covered." I told them.

"Thanks." Ben shouted over the music. "If we spot the others can they sit here too?" He was excited to be in this section and wanted to show off to his friends. I could understand that and didn't begrudge him in the slightest. I was showing off too, after all.

"Sure." I smiled smugly.

"Come and dance." Angela dragged Bella out of the booth and onto the dance floor. It was heaving with sweaty bodies and I looked Bella over carefully, making sure she kept her hands away from her throat, a sure sign she was burning.

She wasn't. What she was, though, was as sexy as hell as she swayed and writhed with Angela. Angela was much taller but Bella moved like liquid sex. Although there were twenty other pairs of eyes on her I couldn't take mine from her.

"You two look good, fixed." Ben said fishing for confirmation of what Angela had told him.

"We were never broken." I said. "Bella just wanted a little time to herself to get to know the baby, it's been rough on her to lose her cousins and then become a mom so fast." I lied smoothly, knowing Bella would hear.

"I guess it would've been tough." He agreed. "But she's moving back in with your family now, right? Ange said she's paid out her lease."

"In a few days, yes. Now Nessa is in a routine she's ready to bring her home."

"Excellent. Then you can be a family." He said, his thoughts filled with how lucky I was to have Bella and Nessa. "What about college? Can you still go?"

"Sure. Bella's going to defer but I'm going in the new semester." I told him. It wasn't a total lie, I'd been thinking about it over the past few days and had decided I would go as was expected of me, only this time I _wanted_ to go because I had a plan.

'_Look at the ass on that!'_ A voice permeated my consciousness and I knew instantly that whoever it was was saying it about my Bella.

"You take the tall one, I want the little dark one. Won't take much to get that skirt off." I heard it even though it was said on the other side of the club. I looked through the crowd to see who I was going to murder but saw only other dancers.

"Dude, you alright, you look like you want to kill someone?" Ben was laughing beside me.

"Yeah, I'm good." I muttered.

Bella chose that exact moment to look my way. Her eyes were hooded and she was staring directly at me as she swayed to the music. She probably heard what I'd heard and I wondered if she thought the voice was speaking about her and Angela, as I knew it had been.

She crooked her finger at me, beckoning me to join her. I felt the clutch of my balls as she licked her bottom lip seductively. Ben nudged me in the ribs, "I think you're being called." He chuckled.

"Looks like." I laughed back. I slid from the booth and crossed to where Bella and Angela were dancing, Ben close at my heels, ready to take Angela's attention once I had Bella's. I stood right in front of my wife. "You called?" I grinned.

"I did." She wrapped her arms around my neck and began her dance again.

She leaned back and swayed, stirring the air between us with her scent. She knew exactly what she was doing. The clothing, the sexy dancing, the waggling finger, it was all designed to frustrate the shit out of me. I swept her backwards a little lower and when she came back up I drew her close to my chest and put my lips to her ear. "Mission accomplished." I growled.

When I let her go she was smiling triumphantly. She let my neck go and put her arms above her head and continued to dance. I matched her move for move and when the song came to its end she got onto her toes and whispered into my ear. "Don't listen to anyone else but me tonight. Not even the thoughts. I'm yours, you're mine, nothing else matters." And with that she made her way through the crowd back to the roped off VIP section.

I took half a second to calm my breathing and then followed.

**BPOV**

I knew the crush of bodies and the constant pulse of thoughts was going to be distracting for him tonight. The way I was dressed was also going to cause him a little distress and judging by the scowl he'd had on his face for the last few hours I was right. He hid it well from Angela and Ben, and from the three other boys and two girls who joined us in the little roped off section, but he couldn't hide it from me.

Our party was joined by Chris and Damian who were the two blonde boys in the Science club with Ben, another darker boy Tommy, along with the two girls Josie and Carmella, who were all on the school paper with Angela. They were nice, I didn't really know them, but they were nice and they loved to dance. They were all just as excited as Ange and Ben to be sitting in the VIP section. They were also very wary of Edward and I. I tried not to take it personally. After all, I was a vampire and they were right to be wary.

But, I was pretty proud of the fact that I wasn't burning nearly as badly as I thought I would be. Unlike the night before this club was filled with sweating, heaving bodies. And these bodies were mostly underage teenagers hell bent on dancing the night away. That or grinding the night away. There were even a few who were trying their level best to lose their virginity in the quiet, dark corners of the club. The air was filled with the smell of sweat, sex and the sugary tang of soda.

Edward watched me like a hawk. He might have been watching to see the tell tale signs of my thirst, he usually did, but tonight I thought it was more than that. Tonight he was watching the way I moved. Even as I was sitting with the three girls his eyes never left me. Every few seconds he scowled and at one point, when Angela was whispering to me about the joys of marital bliss, of course every word of which Edward could hear, I heard him growling softly.

I needed to know if he was okay so I slid out of the booth and grabbed his hand. "Dance with me." I pled.

He grinned and nodded then followed me out onto the floor.

I did as I had earlier and wrapped my arms around his neck and slid my body up against his. He moved so fluidly, not at all self consciously like the other boys in the place. With his face so very close to mine I could smell his venom and it made my senses reel. Halfway through the song I got onto my toes and slid my lips to his ear. "Are you alright?"

I withdrew so I could see his face. He shook his head minutely and my stomach clenched. I let my hands fall lower and cupped his shoulders. We continued to dance and just as I was going to get back onto my toes and ask if it was his thirst that was bothering him he used his hands to twist me in his embrace. When I was fully turned, now facing away from him, his chest to my back, he swished his hips against my ass and we began to dance again. His fingers held me firmly, his lips only half an inch from my ear. "They all want you." He whispered and then bucked up against me.

Ahh, this was possession and jealousy, raw hunger and need. This was my Edward.

I couldn't help but smile. It was the same for me. All these girls were looking at my husband as though they would devour him whole if given the slightest hint of encouragement from him. I didn't need to be able to read minds to know that he was the most magnificent looking creature in the club that night. His pale gloriousness floored me, I could only imagine what it was doing to the human girls. I turned again in his arms and put my fingers to the back of his neck, tugging at the soft hair there. "And they all want you." I let my eyes roam around the room so he'd know I meant all the girls here.

He smiled smugly. The music changed, the bass becoming much deeper, hollower. He ground his hips into me as we adjusted to the rhythm. "I don't want anyone but you." He whispered softly, knowing I'd hear.

"I don't want anyone other than you." I agreed. "You heard Angela?" I asked.

He nodded. "Did you mean it?" He asked in a hiss.

I felt my forehead crease up as I thought on what Angela had actually said and my replies to it. "Which part?" I asked.

His gorgeous crooked grin settled across his face and I had to inhale sharply, desire biting into my stomach as he gazed down at me. He lowered his lips to my ear and I watched each agonising inch disappear, and then shuddered as he let his tongue caress my ear before speaking, "You told her you were never happier than when you were wrapped around me, did you mean it Isabella?" He hissed my name into my ear and I shivered again.

I pulled away slightly and stared into his eyes. "I meant every word." I told him firmly.

**EPOV**

I could set aside my blinding rage, my jealousy and all my self doubt if she meant what she'd said.

When she confirmed that she did mean it I relaxed. The eyes in the room might see her and want her, boys might be gravitating towards us on the dance floor just so they could brush up against her seemingly innocently, but it was me she'd go home with.

It would be me who kissed her goodnight, it would be my name she panted the next time she came. It was going to be me who was the only one to ever be in her bed.

She was mine in every way that counted. She was my mate, my wife and would be my lover again soon. She bore my name and my child. She'd permanently marked herself with my name above her heart. She was mine and I was hers.

Nothing else mattered.

The mental voices couldn't bother me because I knew it was just me and her, nobody else would ever touch us, not while we loved each other.

Now I could enjoy myself a little. I let my hands trail down her back and settled them on the high curve of her ass. I pulled her roughly up against me and let her feel my erection. She sighed and giggled lightly. "That's for you baby." I chuckled against her hair as we danced.

There was intimacy, in all its forms, all around us, but I only saw Isabella.

There were couples with their hands inside blouses and jeans in booths and dark corners all through the club. There were bodies mimicking sex acts while fully clothed on the dance floor. Couples pushed and pulled, writhed and ground their sex against each other to the beat of the music in every available square inch of space in the club. There were couples, some boy girl, some not, hidden in every imaginable space of the club. There were hurried expressions of love and lust, hasty promises made from need and desire. There was treachery and deception, innocence lost and freely given. But in my arms I held an angel.

She just happened to be dressed entirely for sin. "That skirt is criminal." I chuckled into her ear as she writhed against my thigh.

"I know." She giggled again.

Angela was watching us intently, wishing that Ben wanted her as I appeared to want my wife. Ben did want her that way but was too frightened to let her know. They were certainly old enough, and it wasn't any of my business, but I felt sorry for them both that they couldn't find in each other what I found in Bella.

"I can see your tattoo through that blouse." I groaned against her temple.

"I know." She giggled again.

I twisted her around again, her back to my chest. I ground myself into her ass and she pushed back against me, increasing the friction. "Fuck. That's so hot." I mumbled. "You wanted to torture me tonight." I said it as a statement, not a question; I already knew the answer anyway.

"I did." She agreed.

She raised her arms and flung them backwards into my hair. I ran my hands down her sides, my thumbs aching to have any contact with her pert little breasts on the way past towards her hips. She swayed her hips this way and that and I could feel the pleats of her skirt flipping up and down as she did. I could imagine the minute flashes of white from her panties and sucked in a breath over my teeth.

It was time to show my hand.

I ran a hand back up her side, over her ribs, up her throat into her hair and to her hand. I clasped it in mine and bought it back down her body. With her fingers held between mine I pulled her hand between us and shoved it into my pants pocket.

She gasped and instantly twisted to face me when she felt the silky material I had hidden there.

Her eyes sought mine and I smiled smugly.

I let her fingers go and withdrew my hand from my pocket, leaving hers there. "Are they my...?" she asked, breathlessly.

"They are." I whispered, still grinning.

"Oh fuck." She simpered and let her head fall forward until it was under my chin.

She slid her hand out of my pocket, leaving her panties there, and put it around my waist to join her other hand. To anyone looking we'd merely been dancing. But we both knew that the dancing was the ruse we were using to make our point. We wanted each other. Desperately. Always.

"I want you." I told her through clenched teeth. "Only you."

"Edward." She whispered. "I want you too."

"I know baby, I know." I told her as I held her firmly against me. "When you come home." I whispered and kissed her hair.

Torture could be a two way street.

She said nothing but I knew we were in agreement. We wouldn't be together again until she was back in the cottage where she belonged, with me.

**BPOV**

We danced until the humans in our party began to protest their exhaustion. When Ben shook a sleeping Angela awake at the booth we feigned tiredness too and left when they did.

I leaned on Edward's shoulder, holding his hand firmly in mine, as the four of us walked back to where the cars were parked. Angela hugged me lazily and we promised we'd catch up again soon. She was asleep before Ben had the car started.

Edward held the door for me as I slid into the Z4. We drove in silence back to Forks.

When I saw the 4 miles to go sign Edward drew his cell phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. "Please call Rose and Em, tell them we'll be back at first light." He put his hand back to the wheel once I had the phone.

"It's two in the morning Edward, where are we going?" I asked, suddenly apprehensive. I wasn't ready to go to the cottage and the big house held no fascination for me either if we weren't 'together' yet.

He chuckled, "Don't panic please, love." He raised his hand and stroked the back of his knuckles down my cheek. "I'm not taking you into the deep, dark forest to take advantage of you." He laughed.

"Mores the pity." I whispered, eliciting another chuckle from him. I pressed dial on the phone and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello absent parents." Emmett chuckled into the phone.

I couldn't help but laugh, only Emmett would answer the phone that way! "Hi Em. How is she?" I asked.

"Asleep of course."

"Good. Edward says we'll be there at first light, is that okay with you guys?" I asked.

"Put him on sis." Em asked and I handed the phone to Edward.

"Hey Em." Edward said grinning. "I see...right well, I'll certainly try...thanks Em." He flipped the phone shut and put it in the console. "Emmett says Nessa was perfect tonight and he says thank you for letting them have her."

I knew that wasn't the entire story, Emmett just wasn't capable of having that kind of conversation without slipping in something crude or hinting at something crude at least. "So where are we going?" I asked again.

He shook his head and took the La Push turn off.

Instead of turning into the Rez when the gates became visible he turned left towards the water. I knew then that we were going to First Beach. I'd been there as a child but never once with Edward. I knew he'd been there though, he'd been cliff jumping with the pack there.

He stopped the car at the point of a high cliff. When the engine had stopped its roaring he turned in his seat and faced me. He put his hand to my cheek and thumbed the corner of my mouth. I turned my face and kissed the inside of his palm. He moaned, low and soft. "Come lie in the grass with me beautiful girl. We'll watch the stars."

I nodded and he was a blur as he leapt from the driver's seat and held my door open for me. I put my hand in his and let him lead me to the edge of the cliff. He sat and pulled me down into his lap. With one hand tracing small circles across my back and shoulders and the other holding mine in my lap we sat and watched the waves crack over the rocks.

"You're so beautiful Bella." He whispered into my ear. He let me slip from his lap and then he lay down in the soft grass. He tugged my hand and pulled me across his chest, our faces only inches from each other. "There are four hours till dawn, I'd like to spend them kissing you."

**EPOV**

Nessa threw herself into her mother's arms when we arrived at the apartment at first light.

Bella kissed her over and over and Nessa giggled and squirmed as she drew Bella to the sofa to show her what her evening had been like.

Emmett was eyeing me with a grin. He was wondering what we'd filled the hours between two and now with. _'Just nod if you got some bro.' _He thought, coming to stand by me at the kitchen counter. I shook my head minutely to tell him I hadn't. He huffed and shrugged his shoulders. '_Tough break kid.' _He nudged me in the ribs as he thought it. I couldn't help but laugh.

He obviously thought I'd tried and failed. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, truth be told, I'd had to fight Bella off, several times, between two and seven when we'd left the cliffs. I didn't mind though, we were getting closer to being a real married couple again every day, I could be patient a little longer.

It had been fantastic though, lying in the soft grass kissing her for hours on end. It's what couples did in the fifties. Necking they called it then. Fairly innocent kisses and touches for hours on end until both parties were panting, writhing, sweating creatures almost driven insane with passion and desire, but never quite crossing that untenable threshold into sin. It was both frustrating as hell and as sexy as all get out!

"Dude, wake up!" Emmett bellowed right in my face. "Jeez Ed, Nessa's been tugging on your sleeve for ten minutes." He laughed.

I looked down to see my daughter tugging furiously on my sleeve, just as Emmett said she was. "Sorry little one." I mumbled. She took a step backwards then launched herself up into my chest and arms. I inhaled her sweet scent and kissed her little rosy cheek. "Good morning my beauty, were you a good girl for Aunty Rose and Uncle Emmett last night?"

"Yes daddy. I was. Wasn't I Unca Em?" She batted her eyelashes at him and he smiled, his dimples deeper than I'd ever seen them.

"She really was." He agreed.

"That's my good girl." I told her and kissed her again. "I'm proud of you little lady." I told her as she slid down my chest and ran off to her room to fetch a toy. I looked to Rose who was watching Nessa go down the hall with a stupefied expression on her face. "Thanks so much for having her you guys. Did you have a pleasant evening?" Emmett grinned from ear to ear but Rosie just nodded idly. I looked into her thoughts and saw that she wanted a word with Bella and was just trying to work out a way to make that happen without it being too obvious. I threw her a bone. "Em, I need to hunt, come with, yeah?" I cocked an eyebrow to let him know we needed to leave the ladies alone and as comprehension dawned he smiled and nodded.

"Sure bro. I'll see you at home babe." He kissed Rose and hugged Bella.

I went to Bella and kissed her temple. "We'll take Nessa, love." Bella nodded but said nothing. It was obvious she too wanted to speak with Rose alone.

I went to Nessa's room and told her we were going hunting. She squealed in delight when I told her Uncle Emmett was coming too. She sat perfectly still while I slipped on her ballet slippers and then she jumped up onto my back as we slid out the backdoor, leaving Rose and Bella to their talk.

As we hit the tree line Emmett put a hand on my shoulder, "They'll be all good Edward. Rose just wants the chance to apologize." He told me.

"I know." Nessa leapt from my back and I watched as she streaked off through the trees. "She's the last one you know?" I told him as we hit our stride and chased after my daughter.

"Last one what?" He asked.

"Last one for Bella to make peace with before she's coming home." I said with a smile a mile wide.

"Thank fuck for that dude." He mumbled as we crossed the smell of deer.

**BPOV**

"Was she really good for you last night? You can tell me the truth, I know she can be a handful." I rolled my eyes.

Rose seemed distracted, anxious. She crossed the room and sat in the kitchen chair. "She was perfect." She whispered. "Will you sit with me, please?" She patted the seat beside her and I took it. "The whole night was perfect. Thank you so much for giving us that." She kept her eyes hidden from me and I knew that she was unused to displays of affection such as this.

I put a hand on her shoulder, "You're welcome Rose. It won't be the last time, you know that, right?"

She smiled then, right to her eyes. "I hope not." She looked at me then, eyes wide and brain ticking over furiously. "Are you really coming home then?" She asked.

"In a few days, yes." I nodded, making her smile. "We've got a few more things to sort out but yes, in a few days Nessa and I are moving back to the cottage."

She blew her breath out over her teeth. "Thank god." She muttered. "Can you ever forgive me?" She whimpered sadly, shaking her head.

I ran a hand over her lovely blonde locks and sighed. "Rosie, you did what you thought was right at the time. I can't say I'm happy with being lied to, but I know nobody set out to deliberately hurt me."

She raised her head a little and I let her hair go, putting my hands on the table in front of me. She grabbed for one of them and in a very uncharacteristic gesture she squeezed it and held it in hers. "I know I wasn't very welcoming at the beginning, I know I was standoff-ish and I know it was wrong to vote not to tell you, but I do love you Bella. I know I've not told you that often enough and I plan to make sure you know it more often, but you have to say you forgive me my role in all this." She swept her free hand around the room as if to punctuate its awfulness, that 'all this' meant the horrible way I was living instead of being with them.

I smiled. "I left because Edward lied to me Rose, not because you all voted not to tell me. To you they might seem to go hand in hand, but they are quite separate. As my mate Edward shouldn't have had a choice to make, he just should've told me. As my family you were trying to protect me, they're very different things. If you'll forgive me for taking Nessa away I'll forgive you doing what you thought was right at the time."

She sighed in relief. "Of course I can forgive you that!" She shouted. "He was an asshat, he deserved you leaving his ass behind." She grinned evilly and leaned over to hug me to her. As she folded me into her arms she whispered, "I'm sorry Bella. Truly sorry. You make us a better family, you know?"

It was the greatest compliment I'd ever been given and I choked a little on the sob I felt rising in my throat. All I could do was nod as I pulled away from her.

She smiled, bobbed her head once and sat back in her chair. She folded her hands on the table and I watched, fascinated, as her face changed from pain to mischief. "Now that's out the way, tell me, did the little bastard suffer properly through his torture last night or what?" She grinned, all teeth.

"Oh yeah, he was tortured all right." I giggled. "Only problem was, he's so fucking hot I was tortured too!" I laughed.

She laughed, loudly as she threw her head back. "I figured as much. You two always were made for each other. I hope the cottage will still be standing after your reunion, or was it done between two this morning and now?" She raised her eyebrows at me like Emmett did.

I shook my head. "Nah, nothing happened." I shrugged and she seemed to accept it at face value, even though I knew that it was a lie. I'd tried my level best to get Edward to give in and have me, right there in the soft, cool grass on the cliffs. I was pleased he'd not given in, but at the time I was as frustrated as hell.

"Maybe you should hang out till Tuesday, give him a grand birthday present." She winked.

"Now **that** is a damn fine idea Rosalie!" I crowed as I reached for my ringing cell phone. "Alice." I told Rose as I saw the caller ID. "Hey Alice."

"Fantastic idea! What a birthday present, tell Rose she's a genius. It means hanging out a few more days than you were going to, but it will be worth it, trust me, I've seen it." She sighed as though what she'd seen disgusted her, which Edward being her brother it probably should. "Leave it to me. You keep torturing him for the next few days and I'll sort out the cottage and what you're going to need to wear. Say hi to Nessa for me. Oh, and when Charlie calls to invite you, say yes. Your new swimsuit will be in the cabin on the boat. Bye." She hung up before I had a chance to ask what she was on about. I only understood half the conversation which wasn't anything unusual with Alice.

I looked to Rose who was grinning from ear to ear. "Let me guess, she's seen it, it's going to be brilliant, she's got it all sorted?"

"Yeah, something like that."

We both fell about laughing and were still giggling when the boys came back bringing a muddy and very happy little girl with them.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you are happy with the direction this chapter took. Also, if you think I've botched it please reveiw and let me know that too. **


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38 – Girls Choice

38.

**EPOV**

The sound of Rose and Bella laughing uproariously when we returned from the hunt both delighted and scared me. Rose could be formidable at best, at worst she could be evilly mischievous. Neither of them would explain what they'd been laughing at which led me to believe it was me.

Rose's thoughts gave nothing away, she was very careful to guard herself while I was still in the little apartment.

Emmett had gone on home after the hunt and I excused myself soon after returning Nessa to Bella. I kissed Nessa on her rosy cheek and asked her to behave, and to try some more human food when Seth arrived for his visit later. She agreed to try. At the very least that was a concession on her part.

Rose had already said her goodbyes and was waiting for me at the side of the Z4 so I only had time to pull Bella to me and kiss her firmly on her lips. "We've not made any plans but I want to see you today, tonight, anytime you can spare." I whispered into her hair.

She nodded. "Me too. Let me get Nessa and Seth sorted for the day and I'll call you."

I smiled. "I love you. Bye for now." I gave her one last kiss and then I fled, fearing my resolve to give her her space was faltering.

I parked the car in the garage at the big house but didn't go inside with Rose. Instead I fled through the trees to the cottage. Knowing Bella was soon coming back here made it slightly easier to be there alone.

The boxes she'd packed were all in rows along the wall in the hall, just waiting for her to unpack them. I gave the bottom row a swift kick as I passed by on my way into the study. I flipped open my laptop and pulled out my cell phone.

Once I was connected to the internet it took only a few minutes to locate a battered women's shelter in Port Angeles who accepted furniture donations. I spoke with the director, a Mrs Petersen, who told me where and when to deliver Bella's donation. I wrote the details down and then I contacted the bank, asking the manager to make a sizable donation to the charity. Mrs Petersen told me they have upwards of a hundred clients at any one time throughout the year, all running from abusive domestic situations and broken marriages that leaves them with nothing. Ninety percent of those have small children in tow.

I leaned back in my chair and thought about that.

Bella hadn't run from me because I'd abused her physically, but I had abused her all the same. I'd denied her, lied to her, withheld from her and driven her away. Had she not had money and means of her own she could very well have ended up in just such a shelter, my daughter with her.

The thought made my insides churn.

Rolled up in my thoughts of what could've happened were thoughts on how to change the future so I didn't repeat the past.

I'd reaffirmed my vows to Bella and I was determined to keep them this time.

I opened a new internet page and sought the admissions page for Washington University. I'd checked before, many times, on how to enrol whilst being able to live in Forks, rather than Seattle or even Portland, so I followed the links to the eLearning section.

The last time I'd looked I'd selected the music program, this time my mouse pointer hovered over something I'd never thought to study before. I read the page quickly and then clicked the enrol tab. With a deep breath I filled in my details and hit submit before I could change my mind.

The more I rolled the idea around in my head the more sure I was of what path I wanted to take. Things had changed for me of late. I'd changed. Music wasn't the only thing I was good at, I thought it was high time I did something of real worth with my time and with my life. Something I could be proud of, something Bella and Nessa could be proud of.

I hit print and made two copies of the information I'd found. I tucked one page inside the cover of my journal and folded the other into thirds and tucked it into my jeans pocket.

I gave the boxes another kick as I went out the cottage and to the big house to see Carlisle. If he agreed, or even showed some favourable interest, I was going to talk to Bella about it. If he thought it was a bad idea I'd do the courses but shelve the intention that went with them.

**BPOV**

I bathed Nessa and dressed her in a cute little summery dress and some clean ballet slippers. The ones she'd come home from the hunt in were ruined.

When Seth arrived soon after I left them to catch up and went about making them some lunch. Seth was always happy to eat anything, Nessa not so much yet.

I laid out a platter of sandwiches and hoped she'd try some. Seth wolfed them down, pardon the pun, but Nessa turned her nose up at them all.

I spent the afternoon packing the last of our things into boxes while Nessa and Seth played together. At nearly six months old – which was a year and a half at the rate she was growing – Nessa was good at most games that required her to use her brain. Her hand eye co ordination was good, but still lagging behind Seth's. A fact that frustrated her beyond reason. She could run like the wind but tying shoe laces, threading buttons and putting braids into her hair, or mine, was beyond her for now.

She threw tantrums that were much more suited to her own age too. When she couldn't get Seth to do her bidding, or play what she wanted to play, she threw herself to the floor and whined like a nearly two year old.

Seth, for his part, ignored it. I did too. She was growing so fast and I knew these were phases she had to go through in order to get to the next. For normal humans the 'terrible twos' could last years. For me it was likely to last a month, at the worst.

She slept less and less too during the day. For her first few months she would sleep for two hours at a time during the day, and then for most of the night. Now she slept for an hour at best and went to bed later but rose earlier of a morning.

My mother told me this was normal, or as normal as it was likely to get for her and for me.

Nessa was looking forward to spending the morning with Renee at the daycare centre on Monday morning, although both Seth and I were worried that someone would see or hear something that would alert them to the fact that she wasn't an ordinary human child.

Edward assured me that he had spoken with her about it and that she understood the need to behave as the other children did when she was there. Renee was going to speak to her about it before the centre opened on Monday morning to reinforce how important it was for them both that she pretend to be younger than she mentally was.

I'd just put Nessa down for her nap in the mid afternoon when Charlie phoned, just as Alice said he would.

"Hi dad." I answered.

"Hey Bell's. How's my girls?" He asked.

"We're great dad, really great."

"Glad to hear it. Listen, I know its short notice but I wondered if you all want to go out in the boats tomorrow? I've got the day off and your mother needs a break from the daycare before it opens. What do you say?" He asked expectantly.

"That sounds fantastic dad. Have you asked the others or is this just us?"

"I've talked to Carlisle, he'll take his big boat out too, everyone wants to go, do you?" He asked carefully.

"Of course I do. Everything's okay dad, really it is. I'll be going home in a few days." I told him.

He blew a breath out and I heard him mutter 'thank Christ' before he spoke into the handset more clearly, "That's great news Bell's, I'm so glad to hear you say that."

"Thanks dad."

"Well, the weather is supposed to be good tomorrow, for us it is anyway, so Carlisle says he'll meet your mother and I at that little beach, you guys will have to duck the sun on the way I'm afraid. So we'll see you girls there." He gave me the details of what time he'd be getting there and then we rang off.

I turned to Seth who was sitting at the kitchen table with his books spread out around him. "You better finish that today, tomorrow we're going to the beach."

He whooped his agreement and I had to shush him so he didn't wake my cranky baby.

"Can you listen for Nessa, I'm just going outside to make a call." He nodded and waved his hand for me to go and do it already and I laughed. Snarky little bastard he was sometimes.

I dialled my mother's cell phone knowing she'd be either at the daycare centre or out and about, she wouldn't be home.

"Hi Bella." She answered, breathless.

"Bad time mom?" I asked.

"No, no. I'm just in town shopping, what's up?" She asked.

"I was wondering if you would have Nessa for me tonight?"

"Oh I'd love to!" She trilled. "Bring her by whenever you want to, oh wait till I tell Charlie."

"I'll leave you to it mom, I'll see you about six, and thanks." I told her.

Next I dialled Edward.

He answered on the first ring. "My love." He drawled and my insides clenched with desire just at the sound of his voice.

"Hey there." I whispered.

"Are we boating tomorrow?" He asked with laughter in his voice.

"It certainly sounds like it, do you want to go?" I asked.

"Of course. Hold on one second love." He said and I heard the phone muffle as he put his hand over the receiver. 'I'll take this upstairs, I'll see you tonight.' He said to whoever was in the room where he was. I heard his footfalls on the glass stairs and then a door shut. "Sorry about that, I was with Carlisle in his study. Now, of course I want to go to the beach with you. You do remember that I like the water, right?" He chuckled.

"I do recall hearing that somewhere, yes." I giggled. "I like the water too though Edward, you haven't forgotten that have you?" I purred.

He groaned and my stomach tightened, "Never. I'd never forget that. Our first swim, the lake, our honeymoon, the boatshed – oh wait, does that count – and the pool house. I remember Bella, every second of it, I remember." He growled into the phone.

I felt my knees go weak as he recounted our water wise history. "Hey, what do you mean the pool house? I've only swum in it once and that was last week, it was perfectly chaste." I huffed. "And no, the boatshed doesn't count."

"It does count because the boat was still in the water and the pool house was anything but chaste Isabella." He sighed and I caught my breath. "You wanted me to kiss you, desperately, if I recall correctly."

"I did." I admitted. "I wanted you to touch me that day."

"I know. And I wanted to, but I also knew it wasn't the right thing to do." He sighed.

"No, back then it wasn't right." I agreed, hoping he'd hear the inflection in my voice. It might not have been right then, but it was now. Now I wanted it.

"Come home." He stated simply.

"I will." I told him. "Let me take you out tonight Edward." I asked before I lost my nerve.

He chuckled, "Are you asking me out Mrs Cullen? Because if you are I accept."

I laughed, "I am asking you out, that's why I said let me take you out, sheesh, boys." I giggled. "I'll pick you up at six thirty. Dress casual."

"I'll be ready." He said, "Bye beautiful, I love you."

"Bye Edward, I love you too." I closed my phone and smiled. I needed the newspaper.

**EPOV**

I had no idea where she wanted to take me, but I'd go willingly.

I had five hours to kill before Bella would arrive for our date so I unfolded my printed page from the mornings search and spread it out on the desk in our suite. Carlisle was both interested and pleased with my plans. We'd talked for quite a while about how to make them come to life and about what work I'd need to do to make it happen faster.

He promised to do all he could to get me into the courses I needed, now all I had to do was write the actual application essays. They wouldn't be difficult, my grades were excellent – when you'd done high school a dozen or more times they tended to be pretty good – so I knew it wouldn't be that that kept me out of my chosen college program. Carlisle had agreed that I would have to lie about my age, again, and I'd have to contact my lawyer for the appropriate false documents, again, too. I was going to enrol as a twenty something mature aged student. There was no way I'd get my plans off the ground if I was to be a seventeen year old boy. For this I needed to be a man.

None of that was a problem. I'd done that many times already without issue.

I needed to talk to Bella about my plan, make sure she was okay with it, that she'd support me with it. If she didn't think it was a good idea I'd have to scrap it. I thought I knew her well enough to know she would not only support me but she'd want in on it herself. But lately, since she'd left me anyway, I was beginning to see a different Bella. More secure in herself, more sure. More confident and more able to plan and make things happen for herself. I wanted her to help me with the plan, I wanted her advice and her guidance. I wanted it to be something we'd do together even though it was going to have to be me that went through some college courses to make it happen.

I spent the next few hours writing my essays and emailing them off to the two campuses I was going to need to attend.

When Alice came home she came looking for me. She stuck her head around my door and greeted me with a cheeky smile. "Hey big brother."

"Hey little sister. What do you know that I don't?"

"So many things it would make your head burst." She giggled as she came in and sat in Bella's chair at the desk. "I know that you're headed back to college and I know that you aren't doing medicine or music, for a change." She cocked an eyebrow at me and winked.

"Well, keep it to yourself until I talk to Bella about it, this has to be passed by her before I go any further with it." I told her in a mock stern voice.

She leapt from the chair and came to my side, hugged me tightly and kissed me on the cheek. "For a guy you're pretty amazing." She giggled. She went back to the other chair and I wiped her venom off my cheek with a huff, she stuck her tongue at me. "Who's having Nessa tonight while you two 'date'?" She used her fingers to do the quotes.

"I don't know that anyone is having Nessa tonight. Maybe we're going out as a family?" I asked hoping to see something in her thoughts.

"Don't you go digging in my head Edward." She said crossly. "You know I don't know anything anyway, damn wolves." She muttered.

I knew she didn't know anything, with both Nessa and Seth at Bella's Alice was blind, but I did enjoy watching her annoyance. "Yeah I know." I chuckled. "So you know we're all going boating tomorrow?" I asked, changing the subject.

She nodded. "I do, should be a nice day." She was smiling evilly so I knew something was up.

"Care to share?" I asked.

"Nope." She popped the p. "Any ideas what you'd like for your birthday, by the way?" She asked trying her own hand at changing the subject.

I hadn't thought much about my birthday, only how lonely it was going to be if Bella hadn't come home by then. She'd said a few days, and that had been only yesterday, so I hoped that she'd be home by the time my birthday rolled around on Tuesday. I couldn't be sure though and it seemed as though Alice wasn't telling if a decision had been made on it. "Do you know what's happening for my birthday Alice?" I squinted to make sure I could read her properly.

She shook her head and I found nothing in her thoughts to tell me otherwise. She was either lying, which was highly likely, or she really didn't know anything that was planned. "I have no idea what's planned Edward." She said, but I saw the tiny hint of a smirk as she did.

"I'd like to believe you, but I just don't. But it's also clear that even though you usually say I'm your favourite brother you are hiding something as fundamental as what's planned for my birthday from me. This hurts Alice, it really hurts me." I put my hand to my chest to punctuate it and she laughed.

"Give it up Edward. I know and I can't tell you, so leave it at that. Don't you have to get ready for a date?" She looked at her watch and I glanced down at mine.

"Shit." I bounded out of the chair and ran to my bathroom. I stopped when I got to the door and shouted over my shoulder, "If you aren't going to tell me you might as well bugger off." I joked.

She flipped me the bird and went out of the room. "I've put a blanket in the trunk of the Elise." She shouted as she went down the stairs.

A blanket? What the hell for?

I got under the stream of hot water and thought about that. If she didn't know where we were going why would she tell me she'd put a blanket in Bella's car? And why would we be taking the Elise if nobody had been asked to sit with Nessa? Her car seat wouldn't go in the Elise.

I washed my hair and my body and then stood on the bath mat to shave. I still couldn't work out what significance the blanket held and when I went out into the room to dress I thought I knew what Alice was trying to do. She was messing with my head!

So I ignored the implications of the blanket and went downstairs to wait for Bella. I kissed Esme hello, I hadn't seen too much of her in the past few days, which was unusual for me. When I heard the Guardian coming from the turnoff I said a hasty goodbye to her – which made her giggle outwardly and sigh thinking 'Ahh young love' mentally – and flew out the front door and down the steps to see if both my girls had come to collect me.

They hadn't. It was just Bella.

I ran to her door and held it open for her, wondering why she was getting out of the car if we were just going to be leaving again anyway.

"Hello Edward." She purred as she stood from the driver's seat. "Nessa's with Renee and Charlie tonight, it's just you and me baby." She grinned.

Holy fucking hell she was magnificent in dark washed skinny jeans and a pale blue lacy camisole top. No bra. Shit. I felt my balls clench and thanked god that Nessa wasn't with her.

"Hello baby." I drawled as I pulled her into my chest. I inhaled her hair and kissed her glossy red lips. "You look utterly divine." I groaned as she pushed herself up against me and melted into my arms.

"You look pretty good yourself Edward." She kissed me lightly at the side of my neck and used her fingers to tug on my hair for half a second. "We need to swap cars." She told me in a whisper.

I let her go and stood back a little. "We do?" I asked.

She nodded. "For tonight's date we need the Elise." She shut the door of the Guardian after collecting her purse. She dug around in it and came out with the Elise keys. I watched her pert little ass sway as she went to the garage. Ten seconds later she had reversed the Elise out of its spot next to the Veyron and had it idling in at my feet. She leaned over and pushed my door open. "Get in gorgeous." She smirked as I sunk into the plush leather seat. "Hold on baby." She told me as she fishtailed the car out the driveway and towards town.

**BPOV**

As soon as I'd left Renee's and gotten far enough away from Renesmee Alice was on the phone begging me to change cars when I got to the big house.

She said it was because there was far too much room in the Guardian, the Aston or the Veyron and seeing as the Elise had no backseat it would be perfect if I'd meant what I said about holding out until Edward's birthday.

She told me she'd put a blanket in the trunk already and not to worry, that it was all going to go along nicely as long as I changed cars.

I knew Alice well enough to know to trust her, so I'd changed cars, much to Edward's consternation. I could see his tense features out the corner of my eye as I drove us towards Port Angeles. It had been a while since I'd last driven the Elise and it felt fantastic. So unlike the Guardian. This felt light, racy, sexy even.

When I got us out onto the highway and onto an open stretch of road I allowed myself a tiny concession to the plan and spread my fingers widely onto Edward's thigh. He stiffened and blew out a breath over his teeth. "Are you alright?" I asked coyly, feigning surprise at his reaction.

He closed his hand over mine and squeezed gently. He shifted slightly, coming to face me a little in his seat. "You know I'm not." He growled softly.

I chuckled a little, "No, I don't suppose you are." I agreed. "What can I do to make you more at ease?" I asked.

He swore under his breath and even with my excellent hearing I couldn't quite make out what he said. It sounded like 'you can get your clothes off and have me' but I couldn't be sure. "You can tell me something I don't already know." He chuckled, using one of my favourite distraction techniques.

"Okay. Something you don't already know. Hmmm. Let's see. Oh, I know, we're in the Elise because it's too small to do anything in." I laughed when I saw him pinch the bridge of his nose and close his eyes in defeat. "Oh, wait, you knew that already. Let me try again. Um, okay I've got it, I'm not wearing a bra. Oh, no, you knew that too."

He removed his hand off mine and put it into his hair, blew out a long slow breath over his teeth and sighed heavily. "Why?" was all he asked.

"Why what, sweety?" I played dumb.

"Why must you torture me? Surely it's torturing you too, isn't it, even just a little?" His voice was choked, squeezed out of his throat as a hoarse croak.

It floored me, the pain in his voice. I never thought for one moment that he would be actually hurting, physically hurting from this. One look at his face told me he was, though. I pulled my hand out from under his and stroked my knuckles down his cheek. "Sorry Edward, I'll lay off." I told him quietly. "And yes, its torture for me too, having you this close, your scent is maddening." I admitted.

We drove in silence for a few miles and he seemed to relax a little, his posture not quite so rigid.

"Where are we going?" He asked as he looked out the side window to get his bearings.

"Port Angeles, Deer Park Road to be precise." I told him.

"What's on Deer Park Road?" he asked.

"You'll see." I said as I eased off the gas and let the car slow as we came to the end of the highway.

We cruised through town and onto the correct road and as we came to the gates Edward began to chuckle. "Oh Isabella, you naughty, naughty girl." He was grinning from ear to ear as we crept towards the ticket booths, the mischief back in his voice as it had been earlier.

"Two adults please." I leant out the window and handed my cash to the ticket seller. "Thanks." I mumbled as I put our ticket stubs into the console.

"What are we seeing?" Edward asked as I cruised forward with the traffic.

"Do you care?" I asked with a smirk.

"Not in the least." He said.

"Good answer." I laughed as I parked in a vacant spot in the very back row of the drive in theatre. "I can't go to the cinema, it's too tempting with all the humans. But here? The only thing too tempting here is you."

I heard him groan and the seatbelt unbuckle and then he was pulling me over the console into his lap and devouring my mouth.

**EPOV**

She was utterly delicious. Her mouth tasted of her venom and her skin tasted of sunshine and smelled of strawberries from her freshly washed hair. I wound my fingers through it and pulled her mouth harder onto mine. She groaned against my tongue as I plundered her mouth with my teeth and lips. I nipped at her throat, down the curve of her swan like neck and down across the part of her shoulder that I could get to in this position. The soft silk of her camisole rustled as she twisted and writhed in my lap. I wanted to run my hands under the hem and find her beautiful breasts but knew we shouldn't go too far.

She was right to bring the Elise, in anything else I'd already be inside her. Given half the chance I was willing to try it in this car anyway!

She had her hands in my hair, tugging it so I would raise my mouth back to hers. When her tongue lapped at my venom I too groaned my pleasure into her waiting mouth.

She pulled away from me slightly and sat up. Her eyelids were hooded, her breath coming in short sharp pants, her lips were swollen and ruby red. "We need to at least pretend to watch the movie Edward." She giggled as she slid back over the console and into the driver's seat.

"I don't see why we should." I laughed along but knew she was right.

She opened her window and pulled the speaker into the car, trapping it between the glass and the door frame. It crackled when she turned it on but they were still showing the advertisements prior to the movie. I had no intention of finding out what was on the playbill for the evening anyway!

"Come back here." I begged, pulling on her arm and making her giggle.

"I'm a vampire Edward, not a contortionist." She laughed.

"I could come over there, but then you'd be under me, completely at my mercy." I waggled my eyebrows, making her giggle.

"You stay there mister. We'll meet in the middle, lips only, keep your hands to yourself." She squinted at me menacingly.

In a childish attempt to make her laugh I pursed my lips cheekily and leaned over the console. She did the same, making me chuckle, which was hard to do with my lips clamped together as they were. She kissed me chastely on the lips and I kissed her back in the same manner.

She was smiling as she drew away. The movie – whatever it was – was now playing in the background, the images on the huge screen casting an eerie glow inside the tiny cab of the car. The sound was low from the speaker inside the window and Bella's scent was destroying my self control.

I cracked my window open and let the cool night air flood the cabin. I drew it into my mouth and nose in an attempt to cleanse my palate. With her in such close proximity and her arousal so palpable on my tongue, I knew I would lose it before I had a chance to rein myself in if I wasn't cautious.

Bella sat in the driver's seat with one hand on the wheel and the other raking through her hair. She was breathing heavily, blowing it out over her plump ruby lips. Her right foot tapped reveille on the firewall.

"Bella, love, come here." I held out my hand for her and she turned to face me.

Her eyes were as black as the night around us. "Maybe this wasn't such a great idea." She whispered as she slid closer to me on the edge of her seat.

I put my arm up, ran it along her shoulder and pulled her so her head was tucked under my arm. I slid across a little but the gap between us was uncomfortable with the console there. "Maybe it wasn't." I agreed.

She moved out of my embrace and back into her seat, "Come on, let's get out of here." She didn't reach for the keys in the ignition though, she reached under her seat and pulled the lever for the trunk release. "Come on Edward." She nodded towards my door and I got out as she did. I was eager to see what she was planning.

She went to the trunk and took a blanket from within it and then held her hand out for me. This was what Alice was trying to allude to! I put my hand in hers and let her tug me towards the tree line that fringed the back of the theatre lot. We walked only a few paces into the trees, the screen was still visible from where Bella stopped to place the blanket. She sunk down onto it and held her hand out for me to join her. I didn't need asking twice.

She lay across my body, her head on my chest, her fingers stroking my arm as I cradled her against me. This was so much better than being inside that tiny car. There was very little human scent for us to contend with because it was mostly contained within the cars they'd come in. Every now and then one would exit their vehicle to use the bathroom or buy drinks and snacks, but mostly we were surrounded by the smells of the forest itself.

We could still hear the movie's sounds – the speakers inside the cars were surprisingly loud even outside in the open air – but neither of us was listening, or watching.

"I love the movies." I chuckled as I began to stroke her hair.

"Me too." She giggled. "I don't even know that this is called."

"I've no idea but this is the best movie date I've ever been on." I laughed.

I felt her laughter rumbling in her chest as she lay on me. She had a hand under her body and one flopped lazily across my hip. The one on my body began to stroke softly along the ridge between the band of my jeans and the hem of my twin shirts. I still had hers on under my own. I began to hum softly to her and closed my eyes as her soft fingers traced lazy patterns on my now exposed skin. She tugged the hem of my shirts a little higher and ran a fingertip around the circle of my navel. It was blissful and I told her so. She did it again and again, following the same path from hip to navel and back again. I knew she knew I was hard but it didn't matter. Her touch wasn't sexual in nature, it was comforting. It could turn sexual in a heartbeat, but I knew she didn't intend it to be.

I continued to hum and she continued to rub her fingers over my body. Her touch shifted from soft, gentle strokes to more intense touches and caresses when she slid her fingers up under my shirt and traced the lines of my abs and chest. I did my best to continue to hum softly but had to draw in sharp breaths here and there as her touch set my body on fire.

I don't know when my own touch began to deepen against her hair but when she drew my shirts upwards, exposing my bare stomach and chest to the cool night air I realised I was holding her by the nape of her neck and attempting to tilt her face towards my skin. I wanted her lips on me, her tongue tasting me, her teeth sinking into my flesh.

I let her go and withdrew my hand in a rush, sorry for turning such a simple thing as a soft touch into something sexual in nature. She was having none of it.

"Tell me what you want Edward." She whispered as she placed the softest, gentlest kiss on my belly.

I sucked in a hasty breath. If I didn't temper my answer I'd take her, without compunction, right here in the lot of the drive in theatre. I needed to exercise whatever caution I could muster. "Go gently Bella." I warned her. She was nodding against my stomach, her lips carefully making their way from under my ribs to my hipbones. "That's so good. You feel so good." I mumbled. She nipped at the flesh of my belly and I hissed as the familiar sting of her venom set me on fire. "Carefully Bella, I'm begging you, love, go carefully. I have no control." I admitted.

"Don't move." She whispered, kissing the hollow between my navel and pubic bone. "I've missed you so much Edward." She licked a line from the top of my jeans to my hip making me shiver uncontrollably. "I just want to taste you." She bobbed her head and sucked the flesh at my waist into her mouth. I could feel her tongue tracing circles on it as she suckled.

I couldn't help thrusting my hips upwards toward her, it was involuntary, as was putting my hands into her hair and pushing her mouth harder onto my skin. She groaned which made me twitch violently in my jeans. "Jesus Bella." I growled. "You have to stop baby." I warned.

She let my flesh go with a loud pop and scooted up onto her knees beside me. From underneath hooded eyes she looked up at me, desire and lust as plain as day on her face, "Don't you want to taste me Edward?" She asked with a sad pout.

Oh Christ, how do I answer that and remain in control of my lust?

**BPOV**

The warring emotions on his face were fascinating.

He'd changed so much over the past months but this was the Edward that would never leave me. The Edward who was as much in lust with me as I was with him. This Edward was battling within himself, fighting off his basic needs as much as I was.

Finally, after what seemed an age, he let his eyes linger on my lips and he replied, "I want to taste you Bella but I won't be able to stop." He choked out the words as he came to sit up, bracing himself on his palms as they splayed out behind him.

I drew in a deep breath and stared at him. "You can stop Edward, I know you can."

He was shaking his head even as he reached for me, pushing my shoulders backward and towards the blanket. When I was fully prone he hovered over me, his face mere inches from mine, one hand resting at my hip the other beside my face. "I denied my bloodlust for you for thirteen years Bella, but I don't know if I can control this lust if I begin now." He shook his head again and licked his bottom lip.

"I know you can." I wasn't as sure as I sounded but wanted to feel his mouth on my body so desperately I was willing to give in the instant he felt his control slip. "Try. Taste me." I whispered as his mouth came to cover mine.

He swiped his tongue across my lips and I shivered. His fingers tightened at my hip, digging into the hollow of my belly, making me groan in pleasure. Any touch, no matter how innocent or accidental, was welcomed by my desperate body. He parted my lips using his tongue and as he began to explore my mouth his hand began to explore my stomach.

The thin silk of the camisole rode up as his hand stole higher and higher. I arched my back, pushing my hips into his erection, hoping he'd just cup my breast and hurry up about it. Instead he traced soft circles using his thumb as I had done to him. He was torturing me as I'd done him. It was the sweetest of agonies.

Letting my lips go momentarily he whispered 'don't move' and then kissed his way across my cheek into my ear and down the column of my throat. I stilled my hips and let my hands fall aside as he kissed his way across my shoulder and down the centre of my chest, between my breasts and to where his hand rested at the base of my sternum. "Delicious." He murmured, humming against my skin. He bought his fingers to the underside of my breast and began to stroke softly. "So soft." He muttered as he bought his lips to cover my nipple over the thin material. I hissed as his venom cooled my skin and pebbled the nipple between his teeth.

My fingers found his hair and I ran them through it lovingly. His coppery mess let me grip him to me tighter and I used my fingers to tug his mouth this way and that as he devoured my nipple. Bringing his hand out from under the camisole he pulled aside the thin fabric and as the first sting of his teeth grazed my now exposed nipple I softly whispered 'mine' and heard him echo it onto my flesh.

I lost control the instant he did. He had my jeans at my ankles in seconds, a whimpered 'please' escaped my lips involuntarily as he tugged my panties aside.

"God Bella." He groaned as his fingers made their first agonising stroke up between my soaking wet lips. "I want you." He rasped as he sat back onto his heels and looked down at me through glazed eyes.

"I want you too Edward." I mumbled as his thumb found my clit for the first time in months. I quickly reached down and grasped his wrist, stilling all movement. I found his eyes and made sure my words were firm, "Stop now or you have to let me cum." I gasped as he sucked in a deep breath over his teeth.

"Jesus." He muttered, closing his eyes. He leaned over me, bringing his mouth back to mine. He kissed me firmly on my lips then drew back a little. "Cum for me Isabella." He growled as he slid the tip of his index finger inside me.

I cried out but he swallowed it down as he kissed me. He slid his finger into me up to his second knuckle and I moaned into his mouth again. Twisting it he pushed it all the way in and I could feel the heel of his hand on the outside of my sex as he began the slow, agonising flicking of my inner walls. "Edward." I gasped against his lips as I bucked my hips to meet his hand.

He slid his mouth to the side and sucked the skin of my throat into his mouth. He began to nip, little bites and pinches that matched the rhythm set by his burrowing finger. "Cum for me baby. I need to feel you let go." He whispered against my throat.

He sunk his teeth into the hollow below my ear and triggered a mighty shivering orgasm deep within me. I cried out then, bellowing his name into the night air as it overwhelmed me. Heat flashed from the centre of my body outwards, taking with it all sense of reason and control. Wave after wave of ecstasy crashed through me as I clutched at Edward's neck, back and shoulders. "I love you...I love you...I love you..." I chanted over and over as it consumed me fully.

With a last, pulsing shudder my release was complete. Edward was breathing heavily, panting in unison with me as I came down from my euphoric high. I stroked his hair and kissed the side of his face.

I buried my lips into his shoulder and held him to me tightly. I felt him withdraw his finger and knew what he wanted. "Taste me Edward." I whispered into his ear.

A low, rumbling growl moved through his body as he pulled away from me and sat on his heels. He slowly bought his hand to his mouth and slid the finger that had just been inside me into his mouth. He closed his eyes and growled again as he licked it clean. I got to my knees and cupped his arousal with my palm over his jeans. I flattened my hand and pressed firmly. He never moved, a long muffled moan escaped his lips as I manipulated him through the stiff denim. If I released him from the confines of his pants we'd make love. I knew it as easily as I knew he wanted to as much as I did. So I rubbed and stroked him through his pants as he bucked against my hand.

His hands came up to cup my hips and then he was pushing me away. I had a brief second of panic until he put his hands back to my hips. He held me tightly at my waist as he lowered himself onto the blanket on his back. "Come here." He growled, using his hands to pull me across his lap so I was straddling him. I put both my hands onto his chest and held myself aloft above him. I ground my hips against his solid length and let my head fall back as I slid along him. "Faster." He growled.

I braced myself more firmly at his chest and threw my head forward, letting my hair fall with it. I stared down into his eyes as I rode him, the only barrier between us his jeans and my ruined panties.

He closed his eyes and drew his bottom lip into his mouth, biting down on it as his climax approached. His fingers dug into my hips, pushing and pulling me where he needed me to be. I felt him stiffen beneath me and as he came into his boxers he growled 'mine' and pulled my mouth to his.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you have enjoyed this chapter. **


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39 – We'll defeat them on the beaches.

39.

**EPOV**

I cleaned myself up in the awful public bathroom at the theatre and rejoined Bella on the blanket in the trees.

She was lying on her side staring at the screen though I doubt she saw what was on it. She smiled when I slid to my knees in front of her though, so I knew she saw me.

"Hey." I whispered, leaning over to kiss her shoulder.

She put her hand to my cheek, "Hey." She replied.

Nothing else needed to be said. I didn't feel embarrassed or uncomfortable with her at all. I thought I would. As I'd walked back from the bathrooms I thought I would feel the same sort of anxiousness I'd felt the first time we'd made love. But I didn't. We were made for each other, it was as simple as that.

I lay down beside her and drew her to me. She tucked her face into the crook of my arm and I let my eyes fall shut, remembering the last time we'd lain like this at the cottage. It was a long, long time ago. Long before she left me even.

"This is so nice Edward. I've missed this the most, you know?" She whispered to me as though she'd read my thoughts.

I ran my hand through her hair and nodded. "I wouldn't say the most," I chuckled, "But yes, I've missed this too. Just feeling close to you." I kissed the top of her head and felt her nod.

"Okay not the most." She agreed with a little laugh. She quietened for a long moment and then spoke softly, "We'll be okay again, won't we Edward?"

I sighed. "Yes Bella, I promise you, we'll be okay again." I kissed her head again and held her tightly. The first movie was coming to its end and humans were streaming out of their cars towards the concession stands now. I sat up, bringing her with me so she was tucked under my arm, leaning against me. "Shall we stay right here for the second show?" I asked.

"Yes please." She whispered.

"Good." I grinned. "I have something I want to discuss with you, if you feel like it?" I hedged.

She let me go and sat cross legged opposite me on our blanket. She pulled a strand of grass free from the ground and began to shred it in her fingers. "Sure." She said quietly, obviously worried about what I wanted to say.

I reached over and ran my hand through her hair once more. "It's okay, there's nothing wrong, I promise." I smiled and waited for her to smile in return before continuing. "I think I know what I want to do with my time." I said shyly.

She lifted her face to mine and looked at me quizzically. "What do you mean? I thought you wanted to play?"

I smiled, "I do and I think I might have thought of a way to put that to good use." I pulled the folded printout out of my pocket and handed it to her. I kept my hand on hers while I explained it a little. "I've enrolled in business school Bella. Not music or medicine this time. I'm going to do business management, accounting and early childhood education and management."

Her eyes widened as she took in what I'd said. She could have no idea what I intended to do with the diplomas and certificates once I'd finished the courses though. "Do you want to open a daycare, like Renee?" She asked.

I let the paper go and she opened it carefully. "That's a fair assumption my beauty." I agreed. "But no, I want to open a school Bella. A private school but not one only for kids who can afford it, we don't need the money." I laughed.

"A school?" She scrunched up her face and read over the paper. "Business school?" She asked again and I nodded. "And you want to go to business school to learn to run a school?" I nodded again. "A private school but not for rich kids?"

I laughed. "That's about the gist of it, yes. I've always wanted to teach music but would have to keep moving around if I ever did, because I'd never get older. This way I can teach until it gets obvious I'm not aging and then I can slip into the background and manage the school. I can employ decent teachers and the kids could learn from me even though it wouldn't be my hands on the keys. Since I made that stupid chart for Nessa's lessons I've been thinking. What if we opened a school for kids who want to learn music and art, to dance and cooking and design, photography and languages? We've taught Nessa we can teach other children, I'm sure of it. I'd be able to teach music, at least at first anyway, and the others can teach what they want too. We have centuries of knowledge between us, we can do this."

I was rambling, I knew that, but I was already much invested in the idea and was excited to explain it to my wife.

She was still reading, or rereading the page. "A school? You want to teach?" She was shaking her head and I sighed. She hated the idea by the looks of things. Then she lifted her eyes to mine and I could see the spark of interest in them. "I love it. A school." She whispered almost to herself. "I don't want to be just a teacher though, I want in on the ground floor. I want to invest and go to college and learn to teach too, I want to do this with you, not watch you do it." She was laughing by the time she'd finished speaking. She folded the paper back up and put it on the blanket between us and then she launched herself at me.

I caught her around the waist and let her force me backwards. She peppered my face with kisses and I soaked them up hungrily. "I suppose that means you want in on my master plan?" I chuckled.

"I do Edward. It's a fantastic idea." She crowed as she sat up on my chest. She was smiling widely and I could see her thoughts turning over rapidly as excitement flitted across her face. "I want to go to college and learn photography, then I'll teach that. Nessa could learn there, oh Edward that would be wonderful, wouldn't it? Us teaching and our own child there learning from us. Imagine that. A school. Wow." I watched her, fascinated, as her excitement for the idea built. But as fast as it came it went, her face clouding over and her lip quivering.

"What is it love?" I asked, reaching up to cup her face in my palm.

"It'll be years of study for us both before we can start, Nessa will be grown by then, she'll be finished school. She'll be off at college with Seth by then." I could see the sob building in her throat and moved to reassure her before it could break free.

"No." I said firmly, sitting up and tilting her sideways so she was cradled in my lap. "No Bella, it won't take years. I have no intention of waiting that long for things to get moving. I'll begin raising the capital now, get the investors on side and look for a site. We'll begin building now, right now, next week if I can make it happen. I'll do the courses fast tracked, hell, I'll bribe someone to give me the diplomas and I'll learn as I go along if I have to. But this won't take years, I promise. I want Nessa there, with us, when it's up and running. I want to have a hand in her education, I want you to have a hand in it. I promise Bella, I can make this happen fast. Give me a year, two at the most, it's going to happen." I gripped her chin and held her face so she could see my eyes, see how deadly serious about this I was.

Her smile was heart stopping. "Okay Edward. Make it happen, I'm onboard."

**BPOV**

I'd never seen Edward this passionate about anything before. He spoke with purpose, with absolute determination. He wanted this, badly.

I knew he had struggled to find a goal, his age had hampered him in doing the one thing that made him happiest, music. Now he'd finally found a way to use what he knew to make him happy. He wanted to teach. And if he only got a few years out of it, until his lack of aging became apparent, then he was going to grasp that with both hands by the looks of things.

I hadn't had time to think about what I wanted to do with my own life now that it stretched out in front of me for eternity, but this sounded like such a fine idea I was willing to help him make it happen.

"Thank you." He whispered and pulled me to him. "I can't wait to get started."

I could feel the excitement rolling off him. I didn't want to dampen his enthusiasm but felt I should say something about the things we needed to accomplish first.

"Edward, we need to come up with a plan to fend off the Romanians." I said it very carefully and very quietly. It was going to destroy the good mood we had going on but it had been gnawing at the back of my head ever since Carlisle had told me he'd had no response to his letter.

Edward gripped my waist more firmly and I watched as the black cloud came across his face. "No plan required just yet. No move has been made. When it has, we'll deal with it. We'll take them out Bella. They aren't any stronger than us, no more powerful, no more talented. Nothing and nobody will take you, or Nessa, from me, never." He said it with such conviction I knew the topic was closed. For now.

"Okay Edward." I tucked myself back into his embrace and sat quietly with him while the last of the second movie ran itself out.

When the lot was half empty we got up, folded the blanket and walked hand in hand back to the Elise. Edward held my door while I got seated and then he settled himself into the passenger seat. We fell into line behind the humans and exited out onto the highway, quickly leaving them all behind as I let the Elise have her head.

"You love this car, don't you?" Edward asked with a grin.

"I do, I really do." I agreed. "When I come home I'm going to drive it again, lots."

I knew my statement would illicit either the question, or the skirting around of the question of when I was moving back home. I was right.

"When are you coming home Bella?" He asked softly.

I smiled, he was so transparent sometimes. "I thought I might come home for your birthday Edward."

His whoop of joy made the windows rattle and scared me so much I jagged the steering wheel sharply to the left and almost collected the guard rail at the side of the highway. "Shit Edward." I muttered as I corrected the steering.

"Sorry, sorry." He patted my arm and as I turned my head to scowl at him I had to laugh. He had the biggest smile on his face I'd ever seen. "Sorry." He dipped his head and fluttered his lush eyelashes at me.

I laughed. "Yeah, yeah, you're sorry. So, can I come home on your birthday or what?" I teased.

"Well, if you had've told me that bit of news when we were lying on that blanket things may have turned decidedly blue back there." He teased back.

"Oh dear. I hope you weren't implying that I am the type of girl to go past third base on a date were you?" I swatted at his hand as he went to put it in my lap.

He looked mockingly shocked and held his hand over his heart, "Mrs Cullen, I would never presume such an outrageous thing. We are married and I have no hope of getting past third base with you." He began laughing before he'd finished the sentence and I swatted at him again.

"You're too fucking gorgeous for your own good sometimes Edward." I muttered.

"Right back at ya babe!" He did the worst imitation of Emmett I'd ever heard and we both cracked up.

We drove straight to the big house and I expected to just switch cars, say good night to Edward and go to my parents house to collect my daughter. But Edward insisted he come to collect her too, and then escort us home.

So we collected the Guardian and returned to Charlie's.

Edward and I were told first by Renee and then by Charlie how wonderful, beautiful and amazing our daughter was. Edward collected her from my childhood bed and put her – still sleeping – into her car seat in the Guardian. We said a hasty, whispered goodbye and said we'd see them both tomorrow on the water before Edward drove us all back to the apartment.

He carried Nessa into her room and slid her beneath the sheets of her bed. He tucked Frank under her arm and kissed her good night then moved aside so I could kiss her curls. We stood silently watching her sleep for a few moments and then the familiar lurch of my stomach signalled the return of my despair when Edward would make ready to leave.

I closed Nessa's bedroom door and followed Edward out into my living room. It wasn't much of a living room now though, it was piled with boxes and almost everything I owned was inside them, leaving the already depressing room with the feeling of a life being lived in transit.

He stood at the back of the sofa, one hand resting on it lightly, the other raking through his hair in anguish. "I hate leaving you." He whispered, bringing his eyes to mine.

"I hate it when you leave." I sighed in reply.

He flew to where I was standing in the arch of the hallway. He pushed me backwards until I was pinned against the wall of the tiny entryway. His eyes were pitch, his breathing rasped and panting. "Say it Isabella." He growled, putting his lips to my ear.

I shuddered. His scent assaulted me, the flavour of his venom intoxicating me to the point of mindlessness. "I'm yours." It took everything I had to say it so I could be heard.

His teeth found purchase in the hollow beneath my ear and my knees gave way. His arms were around me then, holding me up, pinning me against the wall. "Say it." He rasped again, grinding himself against me and biting down on my throat. "Fucking say it." He growled.

"I'm yours...only yours...fuck Edward...only ever yours." I pushed myself against him and whimpered when he withdrew his teeth from my flesh.

"I have to go." He whispered into my ear. "I'll come for you both at ten. I love you."

He left me standing right there against the wall. I could still feel the heat of his body even as I heard the front door latch closed behind him. I'd collected him from the big house tonight and I knew instantly that he wasn't going far. He'd go to the tree line and stay until the sun came up or Seth arrived, whichever happened first.

I groaned and peeled myself away from the wall and went to shower. I hoped he heard me whispering his name as I bought myself to climax under the hot water.

**EPOV**

Nessa snuffled and breathed evenly as her mother stood under a stream of hot water and pleasured herself. Her father stood high in a tree at the back of the property and pleasured himself while dreaming of her mother.

It was the most fucked up situation I could comprehend.

We should be together, doing that to each other, for each other, with each other. We'd shared it at the movie but it still wasn't the same as having her, truly having her. When we were courting it had been enough for me, to just give her her release, to take mine later when I was alone. But not now. Now I craved more. I needed more and more to sate my desire for her. My obsession for her was growing when I never thought it possible.

It was still early, only midnight, so I settled myself into the tree and readied for a long night of listening and watching over my girls.

When the sounds around me settled down and Bella's neighbours put themselves into their beds for the night I pulled out the folded printout and reread it.

It was going to take some organising to make it happen but I was up for the job. I'd never taken on anything so huge before, hence the need for business school, but I was sure I could pull it off now that Bella had said she wanted to help.

Together we were invincible. We'd proved that time and time again. Despite this slight hiccup of course. We'd survived Jacob, James, Laurent, Victoria and we'd survive the Romanians.

My first priority for the school was finding the space to actually build it. Forks wasn't exactly education central but I knew that if the programs were good enough, if I had the very best facilities and the very best staff, parents would send their children to my school regardless of where it was. I didn't want it to be exclusive or expensive and I didn't want children to have to compete to be able to attend. I wanted children to want to come because to not would be to deny their passion for their craft. We'd teach the ordinary curriculum of course, but I wanted it to be a place where you could send your child so they could develop their talent for music or art or drama, whatever their proclivity happened to be.

The sound of a message on my cell phone startled me from my imaginings.

~I'll wait. Come. Love Bella xx ~

I stared at the little screen for an age trying to decipher what the hell her message meant. What was she waiting for? I thought over our evening and ran over our discussions. Had I missed something? Come where? When? What for? Jesus woman, why was she so cryptic? It's not like she was rushing to send the message so she could sleep, she couldn't afford the three seconds it would've taken to type an actual message that made sense?

And then it hit me. She was waiting for me. She wanted me to come to her. She knew I was out here.

Holy shit.

I pocketed my phone and crept along the edge of the trees. The only light on in her apartment was her bedroom light. All was quiet in and around. Nessa was dreaming, light swirls of colour and the faces of the family flashed across her subconscious. I listened for movement in the flat but there was none, Bella was in her bed. Was she waiting for me to join her there?

I slipped up the side of the yard and stood still under the patio cover and listened. Still nothing. With a trembling hand I tried her back door and when the handle turned without resistance I blew my breath out over my teeth. She'd left it open for me.

I carefully pulled it shut after me as I entered the little kitchen. I crept down the hall and stood at the entrance to her bedroom. I was about to speak, to ask if she was okay when she sat up in the bed and stared at me.

"I'm lonely, come and lay with me, please?" She whimpered.

I needed no other encouragement. I went to the side of the bed and toed off my shoes. I put my wallet, keys and phone on the bedside table and lay down on top of the covers. She slid over towards me and put her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her hair. "Thank you." I whispered.

"Don't." She replied softly. "Tell me about your school Edward. Distract me from this pain." She begged.

My heart lurched. It was as painful for her to be separated from me as it was for me to be apart from her. Tuesday suddenly seemed very, very far away.

"Okay baby." I kissed her hair again and began to tell her my thoughts about the school.

We arrived at the big house at ten. I was assaulted mentally by the thoughts of the family as the four of us – Seth travelled with us - got out of the Guardian, and then assaulted physically by my brothers as I hit the foyer of the house.

"Take a run with us, brother." Jasper put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed.

"Um, sure." I told him, trying to pick out of his head if there was a problem. There wasn't. I was to be interrogated. "Seth, you coming?" I called over my shoulder.

"Sure." His eyes lit up to be included in whatever was going down.

The four of us ran towards the boat shed, Carlisle was waiting for us as we approached.

"Ah, he returns." Carlisle laughed from inside the shed itself.

"What gives, you idiots?" I asked as we slowed to a jog and went inside.

Carlisle stuck his head over the side of the boat and told us to get on up so we could help get it ready for the outing. I went up last, letting Seth go ahead of me. He was excited to see the boat, it would be his first time out in her. Once I was onboard the three men turned on me.

"Spill dude." Emmett insisted.

"You stayed all night, right?" Jasper asked.

"Tell us what happened last night Edward." Carlisle looked poised to shake me.

All I could do was laugh. "God, look at you lot? You'd think you had nothing better to do than worry about my sex life!" I doubled over and laughed my head off.

My brothers and Carlisle all stood staring at me, still waiting for me to 'spill' but Seth was off below deck, and he couldn't care less. I'd have to thank him later.

"Oh fine. Yeah, I stayed the night, but nothing happened. She was lonely alright? I was on watch and she texted me, asked me to keep her company, that's all." I chuckled.

"Bullshit." Emmett yelled. "That's crap dude. You're lying." He seemed very sure of himself.

"Oh I get it, Alice saw something and now you fuckers think I'm lying."I laughed.

Jasper couldn't quite look me in the eye so I knew whatever Alice had seen she'd told him, at least. More than likely he'd told Emmett who'd been happy to spill his guts to Carlisle.

Carlisle tried a calmer approach. "We don't need to know details Edward, we just want to know that you two are okay. She is coming home soon, isn't she?"

I smiled, I couldn't help it, for all their meddling they really did mean well. "Yes, she's coming home on Tuesday, for my birthday. And whatever it is Alice saw is my business, not yours." I told them firmly.

"Fair enough, isn't it boys?" Carlisle turned to Em and Jaz and they both reluctantly nodded their heads.

They were, all three of them, thinking how shitty it was that I wouldn't share what happened on our date, at least where she took me. They had all heard Alice tell me about the blanket as I'd left. "Jesus, living with you lot is like living with three old ladies. Fine. Bella took us to the drive in movie theatre in Port Angeles. The Elise was, um, uncomfortable so we put a blanket on the ground at the tree line. Happy now?" I chuckled.

"What was showing?" Seth called from below.

"Shut the fuck up Seth." I called.

They all fell about laughing, bastards.

**BPOV**

Edward was taken off by the boys, probably to be interrogated about his whereabouts last night and that left me with the women who were all looking at me as if I had the secret to existence and wouldn't share.

"What?" I asked as I shifted Nessa to my other hip.

Esme came forward and took Nessa from me and kissed her on the cheek. "Hello little one. Come and see what Nana has for you." She began to walk towards the kitchen but called us all the follow as she went. She put Nessa onto a kitchen chair and put a colouring book and some crayons in front of the excited little girl. Once Nessa was engrossed in the book she turned back to me. "Spill." She said.

I laughed. "Jeez. Are you serious? We are married you know?" I said with a giggle.

Alice came to stand on one side of me and Rosie on the other. "Spill." They said in unison.

I blew my breath out over my teeth. "You are serious?" I asked. They all nodded. "Right. God, can't you just tell them Alice, you probably saw it already." I ducked my head, mortally embarrassed.

Alice was shaking her head. "I saw the movies, they know that bit. We want to know what happened at your place. Edward didn't come home."

I blew out the breath I'd been holding. Thank god I didn't need to explain the movies! "Oh, I see. Nothing happened at my place. I knew he was on watch because I could still feel him near me, I guess you could say. I was lonely and he was out there on his own so I texted him and asked him to keep me company. That's all. Nothing happened." I shrugged.

"My daddy gave me my bath this morning Nana-Me. And he took me hunting while mommy had her shower. He was cross though, he grumbled about the shower, he said it got to have all the fun. I told him the bath was much more fun, you get bubbles in the bath." Nessa announced as though she had been part of the discussion. I cringed, knowing she'd have more to say on it. "Sethy played Scrabble with me while mommy and daddy did the kissing in the kitchen. I won."

"Nothing happened?" Esme raised her eyebrows at me and pointed to Nessa who had gone back to her colouring.

"Nothing happened." I confirmed.

"But he stayed with you, all night? Right?" Rose asked.

I nodded.

"Let me guess, you two played Scrabble all night?" Alice giggled.

I shook my head but before I could answer Nessa piped up, again. "No they didn't. My Scrabble stayed in my room. They just stayed in mommy's room. Daddy was there when I woked up today. Just like at our house in the woods, hey mommy?" She smiled wide, showing us her little teeth.

I went to her and knelt beside her seat. "Yes darling, just like at our house in the woods." I kissed her hair and looked over at the three women as they gaped. "Nothing happened. We laid on my bed and Edward told me all about his plans for the school. And what happened at the movies is private Alice." I scowled at her and she nodded. "Now, are we going swimming today or what?"

The beach was as I remembered it. It held mixed feelings for me. Of course I loved it there because it was the first place I'd gone with Edward, and the family, after his revelations. But the second time we'd been there held guilty feelings for me. It was there that I'd first doubted Edward, accused him of cheating on me with Rose, fled from him in anger and then threatened them both.

Edward too was quiet as we set up the little camp site with folding chairs, umbrellas and towels on the sand. I went to him and slid my hand into his. "It's an odd feeling isn't it?" I whispered.

He turned to me, surprised. "It is." He smiled slowly. "Some good, some bad memories."

"I know. We'll make new ones today, alright?" He nodded and I let his hand fall and went to Nessa who was already digging in the wet sand at the water's edge.

My dad's boat came into view then and we all turned to watch as he pulled it alongside Carlisle's and dropped the anchor. Nessa squealed in delight when both Charlie and Renee hit the sand out of their little rubber dingy. She ran down the sand and flung herself up into Charlie's arms. Edward and I watched as he Eskimo kissed her and she tugged his moustache with her chubby little fingers. "You all scratchy." She giggled as he kissed her cheek over and over.

"And you're all wriggly." He laughed as he handed her over to Renee. He collected their few things out of the little boat and strode towards our 'camp'. "Hey everyone. Nice day for it."

A chorus of 'hey Charlie', 'nice boat' and 'I hope you wear boardies Chief' (Emmett of course) rent the air as he plonked their things down on the sand.

Renee and Nessa walked slowly up the beach, Nessa had her hand to Renee's chin and when they reached us Renee looked over at me and winked. "Did you two have a nice evening?" She giggled and I cringed.

"Yes, thank you." Edward huffed and reached behind him and drew his shirt off his body.

I tried so hard not to ogle but it was impossible not to. His skin glinted and glittered in the sun and I was dazzled beyond rational thought as I watched him run towards the water and fling himself into the waves.

I felt a hand at my elbow and looked to see Esme smiling at me indulgently. "Go." She nodded towards the water and Edward who was stroking away from the shore at a fast clip. "We'll watch Nessa." She whispered.

"Thanks." I muttered as I pulled my sundress off over my head.

The last thing I heard before I too plunged beneath the waves was my father muttering 'Jesus Christ she's half naked' and Carlisle laughing.

**EPOV**

It felt good to swim. The water would be cold to the humans but to me it was as warm as bath water would be. I swan out past where both boats bobbed in the current and made for the opposite shore.

I was within fifty feet of it when I felt a hand grip my ankle. I panicked and twisted out of the grasp, already preparing to fight as I came to the surface.

"What the fuck!" I bellowed as I found my wife smiling smugly not two feet behind me. "Jesus Bella you scared the shit out of me."

She giggled. "Sucks not to be able to read me, huh?"

I had to laugh at that. I swam the two feet in one stroke and caught her around her waist. I pulled her to me and parted her lips with my tongue. I kissed her thoroughly then let her go. "Oh, I can read you, I just have to be inside you when I do."

The shock on her face was priceless.

The smile came slowly to her face but when it did it was radiant. "Don't forget, I can read you too then, Edward."

"I haven't forgotten Bella." I grinned. I swam to her again and pulled her up against me. "It's all I've been able to think about for weeks." I nuzzled the soft spot under her ear and felt her shudder.

"You're obsessed." She giggled.

"I am, with you." I nipped my way up her neck and then covered her mouth with mine.

She pulled free and began to tread water in front of me. "Our daughter has noticed how obsessed we are Edward. She told the others that we spent the night together and then were kissing this morning while she played with Seth. They think we're sex crazed." She cringed.

"Shit." I muttered and turned towards the shore again. "Come on, let's get to where we can at least stand." I began to stroke away and then saw her coming up beside me. I didn't want to be outclassed a second time so I put on a burst of speed, which she matched easily.

She overtook me and was waiting for me, standing in the shallows when I came to the surface again. "Welcome, nice of you to join me." She giggled as I scowled at her.

"You won't be laughing like that in a few months when you go back to being just like us." I grumbled and pulled her to me again. "Now, I don't care what the others think or say, I don't even really care what Nessa thinks or says about us. We're in love Bella, we're married, and we're supposed to want each other. I'll talk to her about it and make sure she knows it's inappropriate for her to be talking about our personal business, but other than that I don't give a shit what they think." I kissed her firmly on her lips and then let her go with a loud thwack.

"You've changed." She whispered and dipped her mouth to mine again.

"I have, but so have you." I let her go and strode out of the water and up onto the warm sand. I lay down and closed my eyes against the sun, letting it warm me like nothing else ever could, save for Bella herself. I listened as she swished out of the water and then as she took a position beside me I reached out to find her hand. She put hers in mine and I bought them to my chest. "I loved just lying beside you last night." I said softly.

"Me too Edward. It seems a long time ago, doesn't it, since we were just together."

"It does. I won't let it go bad between us again." I said firmly and I meant it. I bought her hand up to my mouth and kissed her knuckles.

We'd not laid there long when Nessa's thoughts came to me. '_Want to swim on daddy's back. Where is my daddy?' _She was searching for me.

I sat up and wiped a hand across my eyes as they came back to focus in the bright sunlight. "Bella, Nessa is wanting us back now. She wants to swim with me. Come on, I'll race you back." I stood and turned to offer her a hand up. That's when I saw what she was wearing. "You cannot be fucking serious!" I bellowed as I stared down at her.

She was sniggering. She was fucking sniggering at my gaping and shouting. "Calm down Edward, it's perfectly decent. Your sister left this for me to wear, I hadn't seen it before now myself." She giggled.

'_Jeez Edward, lighten up, that is a Brian Rochford, height of fashion and she looks hot and you better tell her so too.'_ Alice grumbled in her thoughts.

I ran a hand through my hair again and tried to make sense of what I was seeing as she rose to her feet.

It was a pair of black boot laces. Actually no, there was likely more material per square foot in a pair of boot laces. This was string, half a yard of black string.

Across her breasts were two minute triangles of black lycra – they only just covered her nipples - held together and about her back and neck with a thin shoe string in the same black. A pair of crystal beads hung from the central string between her breasts. If it wasn't for the bottoms those crystals would have keep my gaze for hours.

The bottoms were incredibly tiny. They too were black and held together by the shoestrings at the sides. The uppermost band of the panties went straight across her pubic bone. I knew from past experience, and the images burnt into my mind of how she looked naked, that her pubic hair was but a breath away from that band. Another pair of crystal beads was sewn into the left edge of the panties. The sparkle of her skin in the sun and the glimmer of what was left of the water on her flesh eclipsed those clear glass beads.

"Do you like what you see?" Bella asked as she did a little twirl in the sand.

I didn't know what to say. I fucking loved what I saw but didn't want anyone else to ever see it! I thought about what Alice had just thought and about full disclosure and decided the best course of action was to be honest. I looked her over from head to toe and then I stalked towards where she stood. Slowly. Very slowly I came towards her. She giggled as I slipped to my hands and knees. I crossed the sand on all fours and growled the whole way to where she stood. When I was at her feet I looked up into her eyes. "You are the most beautiful thing I've seen in a century Isabella. You're a goddess and I am worshipping at your feet." I kissed the top of one foot then the other, she continued to giggle. I looked up from my prone position and saw that her tattoo was now inky black against the pale cream of her skin. I ran a hand up the backs of both her legs and settled them at her bottom, pulling her belly to my face as I sat on my knees. I inhaled her perfumed heat and sighed. "You're utterly perfect and I'm not worthy." I whispered into her navel, snaking my tongue out to circle it and winning a long, low purr as reward. She put her hands into my hair and I moaned. "You're killing me Bella."

"I know and I'm sorry. I know it's going to sound stupid, but it's killing me too Edward."

I stood then. I took her hand in mine and kissed her knuckles. "Then we'll keep ourselves distracted by amusing our daughter for the day. It will pass quickly and then I can take you home and lay with you all night long, if you'll have me?" I asked.

"Yes." She whimpered. "I want that."

"Good." I said in a playful tone though I felt anything but. "I'll race you back. I get a head start because I have to work off this erection."

The last thing I heard before I hit the water was her laughter.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. This is part one of this chapter, part two will follow tomorrow. If you have enjoyed this chapter please let me know and review. **


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40 – We'll defeat them on the beaches. Part 2

40.

**BPOV**

Nessa was enthralled by the waves. She sat at the edge of the water and let them crash over her, she leapt through them, body surfed them, dived under them and floated on top of them.

She refused to come out of the water to eat so she sat in the shallows with a plate of cold chicken and salad and picked at it while Seth sat on a folding chair, his feet being lapped by the little waves. Edward and I sat in a pair of folding chairs and watched as Seth tried to tempt her to try the new foods. After half an hour she'd tried and liked the cooked chicken but had spat out all the salad except for celery. I hated celery so found it very odd that she liked it. But it was one more tick in the box and one step closer to her being able to mix with human children.

Charlie and Renee sat under a beach umbrella and talked with us and the family quite happily. Nothing was mentioned about me moving home and nobody said anything about Edward and I not being 'together'. It was as though it had never happened. I was simply reabsorbed back into family life as though nothing was different.

But I knew that I was different now and I knew that Edward was different too.

We were both stronger, we both knew where we stood and we both knew what we wanted.

I looked around the various couples and knew that I was where I belonged.

Rose was lying on a towel with Emmett lying in her lap. She had his hair in her fingers and they were talking softly about the night before, about how much they'd enjoyed being a family with Nessa. They weren't regretful that they'd never have a child of their own, they were grateful that I'd let them have mine, even for such a short time.

Jasper sat up against a tree stump with Alice between his knees. He was winding long pieces of grass through his fingers, knotting them together. At regular intervals he threaded a shell onto the grass and then he knotted it around Alice's wrist. They were talking about Edward's school idea and discussing how they could be involved.

Carlisle and Esme seemed to be projecting the essence of comfortable middle aged serenity. They sat opposite each other at a little folding table – further apart than any of the other couples present – and chatted amiably with Charlie and Renee while they ate their lunch. To anyone else the two couples looked normal. But a quick glance under the table told a different story. Esme had one foot planted under her seat, the other was in Carlisle's lap across the table. He had one hand above the table and the other below it, rubbing circles along Esme's ankle with his thumb. Although they spoke within the conversation they also stole glances at each other. Esme licked her lips, Carlisle winked, Esme sighed softly, and Carlisle blew his venom laced breath across at her. It was a carefully planned, well rehearsed game. It was also utterly adorable.

Edward stood, startling me from my covert staring. Squinting into the sun he put a hand above his brow, "Come and play with Nessa?" He asked, holding out his other hand for me.

I took it gladly. We went to the water's edge to where Seth and Nessa were still sitting, making a giant sandcastle. "Room for two more?" I asked as I plonked myself down in the sand beside Nessa.

"You can build the towers mommy." Nessa told me, handing me her little plastic shovel.

"What about daddy?" Edward asked, crossing his legs underneath him as he took a spot between Nessa and Seth on the opposite side.

Nessa scrunched up her eyes and thought on it, "Daddy can build the water thing, what's it called Sethy?" She asked.

"The moat." He told her.

"Yes, daddy you can build the moat. But you have to make it wide enough that boats can go in it." She told him sternly with a wag of her finger.

Edward's smile was glorious. "Boats eh?" He asked as he began to scoop a channel around the castle.

"Yes, for boats daddy. Pa and Poppa can bring their boats to visit us then. Sethy can let the drawbridge down and they can come in to visit. I will make bacon." She announced to raucous laughter from the family.

Edward looked up then and caught me staring at him. He smiled and mouthed 'I love you' and then returned to his moat construction.

**EPOV**

Nessa proved a good distraction in the afternoon. We built a fantastical castle, complete with moat for boats, and a series of smaller castles around the outside that Nessa said was for each couple. Rose and Emmett had to live in one the furthest away because 'Unca Emmett is so loud', according to Nessa.

Alice and Jasper's castle had to be pink, which was impossible to achieve in sand, but Nessa told Alice that hers would be pink in real life. Jasper rolled his eyes good naturedly.

Charlie and Renee had to have a castle too and it needed to be close to ours because Poppa needed to keep an eye on naughty parents. Charlie scoffed and laughed along but his thoughts were exactly that, he'd like to keep an eye on naughty parents. Well, me, not Bella. In Charlie's eyes I had a lot to make up for.

Carlisle and Esme's castle was taller than the others because Carlisle needed to have a study way up in the top of the tower where he could help the sick people, according to Nessa. That made him smile so widely I thought his cheeks were going to burst!

Mine and Bella's castle was closest to the main one. It had to have a music room for my piano and a 'black room' for Bella's photos. There had to be a spare room there for when Nessa wanted to come for sleepovers even though 'I'll be big soon and will live with Sethy'. I looked to Bella the instant she said it but saw nothing but acceptance on her beautiful face. It had to hurt to hear though, I know it did for me.

When the main castle was finished, complete with a row of tiny shells pushed into the soft wet sand around the top, Nessa stood, hands on hips and announced it a masterpiece.

The whole family was asked to come and see. Everyone stood around and marvelled at her inventiveness and her vision. She smiled brightly and lapped up the praise.

Nessa's skin was beginning to turn a light pink and she was beginning to tire. Nobody wanted to head back yet though. "She's in need of cleaning up and a nap, love." I told Bella. "We could put her in the shower onboard and she could rest in the cabin, what do you think?" I asked.

"That sounds okay to me." She replied as she scooped up the giggling girl and kissed her curls. "Come on little one, its clean up time for you."

Carlisle had shaken his head at Alice when she'd suggested she could bathe Nessa if we wanted to stay in the sun a bit longer and I knew why he'd done it. He wanted us to be together, as a family, as I'd said I'd wanted all those months ago. He was trying to give us the solitude to work as a family again.

Seth too opted to stay on the sand with the others. Emmett and Jasper were planning a race and wanted Seth to join in, so he stayed while Bella and I took Nessa to the boat.

Bella took her into the little shower stall and washed the sand and salty water off her while I laid out her clean clothes and prepared the cabin for her nap. I got clean towels, her hair brush and Frank from her bag and put them onto the bed in readiness.

"Can you come and grab her Edward?" Bella called from the bathroom.

I scooped up a towel and went into the tiny room. I expected to see Bella standing under the water in her bikini but she was naked. "Oh shit." I gasped, forgetting my daughter was right there.

"Naughty daddy." Nessa giggled as I wrapped her into the towel.

"Um, I'll get her dry." I mumbled. I tried so very hard to avert my eyes from the goddess behind the fogged glass but it was ridiculous to think I achieved it. Bella giggled lightly while I trudged out of the room with the wriggling child in my arms.

I took Nessa to the bed and sat her on the towel and dried her hair. I dressed her into some clean clothes and was brushing out her hair when Bella emerged from the bathroom. She had her bikini back on but had knotted a sarong around her waist. "I should have warned you." She whispered as she came to sit behind me on the bed. I felt her hands in my hair and closed my eyes. She placed the softest kiss at the back of my neck and then left her hand there.

"No, the surprise was, um, very nice." I chuckled. I finished with Nessa's hair and then I put her at the head of the bed for her nap. Bella put Frank into the crook of her arm and kissed her forehead. "Rest well little one." I told her with a kiss.

I took the wet towels into the bathroom and hung them over the rail. When I came out again Bella was waiting for me, her hand held out. I put mine into hers and let her lead me to the other bedroom. Two walls of this room held bunk beds but there was a small bed on its own against the third wall. Bella led me to it and pushed me so that my knees hit it and I sat down onto it. She stood between my knees and put her hands back into my hair. I closed my eyes. "We can lay here if you want. We'll hear her then." She whispered.

All I could do was nod.

She let my hair go and sat beside me on the tiny bed. She slid backwards until she was up against the wall and then she lay down. She opened her arms and held them out to me. I sank into them and rested my head on her shoulder. She folded her arms over me and held me to her. I felt her kiss my forehead as she'd done to our daughter and I exhaled slowly. It felt so good to be held by her. Even here, within hearing distance of the family and with our daughter in the next cabin, it was still divine to be even this innocently intimate with her.

"What are you thinking?" She asked me as I'd asked her a thousand times.

"I love you; I was thinking how much I love you." I told her.

She kissed my forehead again and tightened her embrace, "I love you too Edward." She whispered.

**BPOV**

Nessa only slept for just over an hour but it was long enough for Edward and I to have a cuddle in peace. I assumed he could still hear the family's thoughts but he didn't say anything to me about that being annoying for him. I could still hear their conversations but they never once mentioned us so I ignored them.

When Nessa woke I dressed her in a new pair of swimmers and collected another armful of towels and we put her back into the dingy and took her to the beach for some more fun in the sun.

By nightfall I had a small plastic bucket with her prized collection of shells in it that I had been asked to guard with my life. She was slightly sunburnt but happy to play all day and night long in the water and sand. We had to prize her away from the waters edge to get her into the dingy and she wailed and protested the whole way to the big boat about how mean we were to stop her from having fun.

Seth was as sleepy as Nessa was on the return journey and they were both sound asleep as we pulled up to the little jetty.

Charlie and Renee sailed on past and with a loud goodbye – and an excited call from Renee that she'd see me and Nessa first thing tomorrow morning at the daycare centre - they went off towards the marina while we unloaded at the jetty. Edward woke Seth but I let Nessa sleep. I carried her to the Guardian and put her in her car seat. Seth sat in the backseat with her while I gathered our things from the back deck where Edward had dropped them. I had everything in the trunk and was preparing to go inside and say good night to the family when Edward came around the side of the house to the car.

He pulled me away from the car and tugged my arm until we were around the side of the house. He pushed me up against the siding and kissed me deeply. "Stay." He growled into my ear before licking it.

I shuddered. I wanted to stay, so badly, but Nessa needed her bed and Seth needed his. "I can't." I mumbled reluctantly and kissed him back.

He slid his knee between mine and forced his thigh up against my centre. I whimpered into his mouth and he chuckled even while his tongue was sliding between my lips. "Stay." He rasped again.

I put my hands to his chest and pushed him away slightly. "I can't. I want to, but I can't. I have to take Seth home and Nessa needs her bed Edward."

He hissed and bit his cheek. "Okay. Take Seth home, put Nessa to bed and I'll come to you." His eyes were so pleading I couldn't deny him.

"Yes." I whispered and kissed him again.

His beautiful smile lit up the night. "Thank you." He kissed me softly at the corner of my mouth and stepped aside to let me go back to the car. Just as I took the first step though he reached for my wrist and pulled me back up against his chest. "Wait for me, we'll shower together?" He asked it as if it was a question and he was waiting for my answer.

All I could do was nod.

As I drove towards the Rez all I could think about was being in the tiny shower stall in my horrible bathroom with Edward, naked.

**EPOV**

It was only twenty-three minutes until she pulled up in the Guardian but it felt like three weeks to me as I waited in the trees behind the apartment.

None of the family had dared hang any shit on me after she'd left. They all heard what I'd asked her, of course, but not one of them had the balls to tease me about it. I think they finally could see just how difficult it was for us both to be so near and yet still so very far apart. Carlisle wanted to speak to me, to ask whether we were okay but he left me alone. I was grateful. We were okay and in two days time we'd be back together as we should be. So for now I was pleased that they just left me to get on with it.

Having nothing to busy myself with while I waited for her was torture. I grabbed a clean set of clothes and held onto them as I ran at a sprint to the trees behind Perry Street. I put the clothes on the step at her backdoor and went back to the trees to wait. I listened to the houses either side and to distract myself I listened to Newton who was on the internet trying to make out he was a basketball star in order to win the affections of a girl in Atlanta. She wasn't buying it and he was making an idiot of himself.

I 'heard' Nessa's thoughts before the Guardian arrived in the parking space. She was so sleepy and she was cranky because she'd just had to say goodbye to Seth for the night. She knew tomorrow she was going to Renee for a few hours and that Seth had to go to school. She was giving Bella hell about having to go to bed as soon as they got in the door but Bella was having none of her belligerence. She undressed her quickly and slipped on her nightie and took her into the bathroom to wash her face and clean her teeth. With that done she took the whining little girl into her room and tucked her into her bed. She put Frank in her arms, kissed her on the cheek and ignored her pleas for more play time.

Bella left the room and by the time she'd taken the ten paces to the backdoor of the kitchen Nessa was dreaming.

Bella opened the backdoor and stepped out onto the patio. She scanned the trees, looking for me, huffed once and turned back towards the apartment. She bent down and took my clothes off the step and bought them to her nose. "I'm here." I whispered from the trees, knowing she'd hear me.

"Edward?" She whispered back.

I strode out of the trees and came straight to her. I took her in my arms and crushed her mouth with mine. She melted against me, pressing herself up against my chest.

We stood for a few moments in the embrace, lips lazily skimming each others. Neither of us wanted to go too far but neither did we want to break the contact. Finally I drew away a little. "I want to bathe you Bella." I whispered into her hair and felt her shiver.

She took my hand and led me through the backdoor, locking it as I passed through, and then she led me into the little bathroom.

She didn't turn the lights on and I didn't want her to. This was going to be as it had been the first time, when she'd been human. This was awkward, a little scary, it felt as new as it had that first time we'd showered in our underwear and in a way it _was_ totally new. We were both new people and in some ways we were nothing like what we'd been even back then. This had to be as innocent as possible or I'd do something I'd regret in the morning.

She stood on the bath mat and let her jeans fall to her ankles. Her jersey followed and then my t-shirt – that she wore under hers – joined the pile on the floor. She slipped her bra over her shoulders and off her hands and then she hooked her fingers into her panties and pulled them down her thighs and off her feet.

She turned then, reached for the taps and turned them on full. Without turning towards me again she stepped under the steaming stream.

I shucked my jeans off, threw my twin shirts into the pile and stepped out of my boxers. In seconds I was under the water with her and her hands were on my body.

**BPOV**

I knew that it would torture us both if we spent our time touching but I had to, I couldn't control the urge I felt to just have my hands on him.

I did my best to stay away from the part of him I wanted most and instead I used my fingers to trace the lean lines of his chest and stomach. We shifted so he was under the stream of water and I was backed up to the tiled wall. His eyes were closed and his head tilted back under the water as I ran my hands across his chest and down to his waist. "You're so beautiful." I whispered as I licked the water from his throat.

His scent was maddening in the confined space. I could smell him and taste him as the hot water intensified his already glorious male scent. I ran my tongue up over his Adams apple and across his collarbone to his shoulder. I pressed forward a little and felt the bronze hair of his chest tickle my nipples as I let my teeth press down into his flesh.

"Oh fuck." He growled as my venom ran across his skin. His hands came up to hold my shoulders and I knew he was going to push me away from him.

I smiled when he did. It wasn't offensive, I wasn't hurt, I knew what it was. It was self preservation. I shouldn't have gone so far as to bite him, I knew what sort of reaction that was going to illicit before I did it.

As I stood away from him I could feel his erection spring up between us. To spare his embarrassment I turned and faced the glass door of the shower cubicle, my back to his chest. "Do you want to wash my hair?" I asked, giving him an 'out'.

He kissed my shoulder and chuckled. "You know I do."

I smelled the strawberry liquid as he rubbed it between his hands. I heard him inhale deeply and I smiled when I heard his groan.

Then his fingers were on my scalp and my knees buckled.

In some ways this was more intimate than we'd been last night at the movies. This was primitive, this desire to bathe ones mate. I closed my eyes as he pressed harder and harder against my scalp, using his fingertips to massage the shampoo into my hair. I wanted to press myself backwards and onto his cock but I knew he'd leap from the shower if I did.

So I stood there, more aroused than I thought I'd ever been, and let him wash my hair. When he'd rinsed it clean of the soap he began to rub the cake of soap between his hands. I pushed my palms against the glass and steadied myself for his touch.

He began at my shoulders and as his hands made contact with my skin an electric jolt hit me deep inside my belly. I couldn't contain the sigh I let out. He moved his hands from my shoulders to the small of my back and pressed hard until he had me whimpering with pleasure. He traced the curve of my ass and dug his fingers into the backs of my thighs. He rubbed all the way to my feet and then ran his hands back along the path he'd just traced. He let his fingers delve between my legs so briefly I thought I'd imagined it.

He pulled my hair into a rope and then put it over my right shoulder. I felt his lips first, then his venom as he bit down on my left shoulder. "Jesus." I muttered as the sting reverberated from my shoulder and went directly to my clit.

**EPOV**

Each time she shivered or shuddered I lost a tiny bit more of my resolve.

I hadn't intended to bite her but her flesh was just so fucking inviting. The urge was so powerful I'd sunk my teeth in before I'd had time to rationalize the consequences.

As it was it caused a massive flood of arousal in her that I felt, smelt and tasted as the water washed over us. I knew I had to get out of there but I was so drawn to her that my mind was fogged with desire, not rational thought.

I stepped forward and pressed myself against her. She groaned when I did. I was so hard it was becoming painful. The slightest movement from her would just about do me in.

"Edward." She whimpered. "Please."

"Oh god." I choked. I let my head fall to her shoulder, my hands at her hips. "I can't Bella. I can't go any further. I'll have to have you."

"Then have me Edward, this is too much. I can't handle any more." She whispered.

I knew then that I had to get out of there. She was usually so in control, so easily able to thwart me. But this was different, this was Bella losing control. I couldn't have it. I couldn't have her. Not here. I hated this place, the apartment symbolised my failure. I'd driven her out of our home and into this dump. I didn't want her here.

I let her hips go and lifted myself from her shoulder. I placed a gentle kiss on her succulent flesh then whispered, "I want you more now than I ever have Isabella. But I can't here, in this place." I kissed her again and slipped out of the shower stall.

I dried myself as fast as I could and fled out of the bathroom. I dressed in her bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed to wait for her.

She stepped out of the shower and I heard the water stop. The rasp of the towel as it was pushed and pulled over her skin tormented me. It was touching the parts of her that I wanted to touch.

She was naked when she came out of the bathroom but she flew to her dresser and by the time she came to stand between my knees she had pulled on panties and a long t-shirt. She bent and kissed the top of my head. "Let's get into bed Edward. We'll talk."

I closed my eyes and steeled myself for the onslaught of sensations when we got into the bed. I got up from the edge of the bed and waited while she drew back the covers. She patted the bed beside her once she was in herself. "I don't know Bella." I said truthfully.

"I know Edward, I know what you're feeling, but I want to hold you, just like last night. Come on." She held her arms out for me and I took a deep breath before I let myself fall into them. She closed her arms around me and held my head to her breast. "It's ok baby. It's okay." She crooned as her fingers began their soft manipulations through my hair.

I felt my whole body relax as we lay there. As uptight and tense as I'd been earlier I now felt as if I'd been drugged. I drank her scent in and let my fingers indulge in the soft flesh of her belly. I closed my eyes and began to hum against her skin.

"I'm so in love with you." I whispered.

She ran her fingers across my cheek and whispered, "I'm so in love with you too Edward."

**BPOV**

Getting Nessa ready for daycare on Monday morning was a bloody nightmare!

As soon as Seth arrived, just after breakfast, none of which Nessa would eat, she began to whine and moan about having to go. I knew she was just scared, all children were scared on their first day of separation from their parents.

But Nessa took this to new heights.

She plonked herself down on the sofa and refused every suggestion to move. She crossed her arms over her chest so I couldn't replace her nightie with her dress. She crossed her ankles so I couldn't put on her shoes, she swung her head from side to side so Edward couldn't brush her hair. She nodded violently so I couldn't put her beloved Cullen crest clips into her hair.

She threw the little package of food I'd prepared for her snack time onto the floor and no amount of encouragement from Seth would budge her when it came time to get into the car.

Edward was distraught by the time I asked him to just take Seth to school and leave me to sort out Nessa. He kissed her, even though she turned her face so it landed in her hair instead of on her cheek, and then he kissed me and told me he'd be back for us soon.

When the Guardian was gone and it was just me and Nessa alone in the apartment I led her to the kitchen and sat her on a chair.

"Okay Nessa. I can see that you are unhappy about having to go all of a sudden so I need you to tell me why." I asked.

She just shook her head and clamped her lips shut.

"Okay fine. You don't have to tell me, but remember you've given up your chance to let mommy help. Now you must go and you must live with whatever is bothering you on your own because you wouldn't share with me."

She blinked her eyes wide when she realised I wasn't going to beg and I wasn't going to play her game.

"The other children won't like me." She blinked back tears and my heart clenched.

"Oh sweetheart that's just not true. The other children will love you! You'll meet some little girls and some little boys and there are bound to be some that you really, really like and who will like you in return." I told her, pulling her from her seat and into my lap.

She shook her head. "No they won't. I'm not like them. I don't know how to play their silly games and they are going to eat all sorts of things and I only like grapes." She sobbed.

"Well that's why you have to go, Nessa. So you can learn to play their games. Remember what daddy and I talked with you about? We want you to be able to go to big school like all the other children, but before you can you have to learn how to behave like them. That's why you are going to go to Nana-Ne's today. You can go and see how the little children behave. And when they are eating you can eat your little grapes, just like the others. They won't notice how much cleverer than them you are. And they won't notice how much more beautiful you are either." I told her, knowing I shouldn't tell her things like that, it would only spoil her.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Can Sethy come to daycare with me?" She asked, eyes still shining with unshed tears.

I shook my head, "No sweetheart, Seth's too big for daycare. But, if you go and learn about the other children you can go to elementary school soon and then you can go to high school with Seth. But you can't go if you refuse to learn how to behave like the other children Nessa." I told her sternly.

She sat a little straighter and I knew she had changed her mind. "Okay momma. I'll go." She turned her sad little face to mine and I kissed her on her cheek.

I thumbed the last of her tears away, "Good girl Nessa." I nuzzled her neck and drank in her scent. She had no idea how hard this was going to be for Edward and I, to leave her there this morning.

She slid off my lap and collected her little pink backpack from the sofa. She put her snack into it along with her drink bottle – it was filled with water she'd never drink – and then she straightened her dress. "I'm ready now momma." She announced.

I smiled and grabbed my house keys. We waited outside under the awning for Edward to collect us.

**EPOV**

Nessa's thoughts were desperately unhappy as we walked her inside the daycare centre. I was about ready to just say no, take her home and be done with the whole business. Something that made her this apprehensive couldn't be good for her, or us.

Renee greeted us excitedly and she knelt down beside Renesmee to give her a big hug and kiss. Nessa melted into her grandmother's arms and I could tell she was struggling to hold in her tears. Whatever Bella had said to her had been enough to get her here, but might not be enough to get her to actually stay.

'_Sign her in and just go. I promise it will be better that way.' _Renee looked me in the eye as she thought it.

It always astounded me how quickly she took to my ability. I nodded and reached for Bella's hand. I signed the page at the front counter and told Nessa we'd be back for her at midday.

She sniffed and nodded before she flung herself at my knees, hugging me tightly. I was pleased she didn't launch herself up into my arms but knew she knew better. "It's okay little one. We'll be back very soon. You go and play with the other children darling." I scooped her up, kissed her cheek and held her while Bella did the same.

I put her back into Renee's arms and pulled Bella from the building.

It was hard to say who was more upset, my wife or my daughter.

I drove us back towards Bella's apartment and parked in her parking space. I took her trembling hand in mine and changed my mind. I restarted the car and went towards the big house. "We'll go and see Esme." I told Bella who just nodded and kept looking out the window.

All along the drive Bella kept opening and closing her cell phone and then staring at the clock on the dashboard.

Esme greeted us at the foot of the stairs and pulled Bella into a tight hug. "She'll be fine dear. Renee will take excellent care of her. Come on inside, we'll bake." She smiled at me over Bella's shoulder. '_You should play Edward, it will soothe her.' _She thought.

I went inside with them and went straight to my piano. I wanted to play a dirge but refrained. Bella needed me to be strong enough for both of us today. I could do that. I set my hands on the keys and took a deep breath.

Bella and Esme prepared cookies to tempt Nessa when she was finished at daycare and by the time they were going into the oven Bella was in a far better mood.

She came to sit by me on the piano bench, making me flinch with desire as she slid herself close to me. She leaned and kissed the top of my shoulder. "Thank you." She whispered.

I continued to play but smiled widely. I didn't know what she was saying thank you for and didn't really care. I'd seen this in Alice' visions, the two of us on the piano bench and knew that we were almost healed. Tomorrow was my birthday and she'd said she'd be coming home then. I only had this day and tonight to suffer and then I would be whole.

I played on and she rested her head against my shoulder, her hands in her lap.

The timer on the oven sounded and then she was gone again. She helped Esme lay the cookies out to cool and then she came back to sit by me.

'_Would you like me to leave Edward?'_ Esme asked me mentally.

I didn't know how to answer. I couldn't be alone with Bella right now, not after the way we'd been last night. I was far too close to the edge of my self control to be alone with her. But I didn't know how to answer Esme without alerting Bella to the fact that the question had been asked. I couldn't very well say 'no' out loud to an unasked question and I couldn't nod or shake my head because Esme was in the kitchen.

So I stayed put and played.

The oven timer went off a second time and when Bella went into the kitchen I went too. I crowed over their culinary masterpieces – that smelled disgusting but looked quite pretty – and shook my head minutely at Esme as Bella's back was turned to the oven once more.

Bella glanced at her watch ten times during the five minutes the three of us were in the kitchen. I sighed. I knew she was suffering with Nessa away, I felt it too. It was as though a piece of me had been removed and in its place I now had a dark hollow ache in my gut. "Call Renee." I whispered.

Bella's eyes opened wide and she turned her eyes to mine. "What?" She asked.

"Call Renee Bella, if you don't I will." I smiled.

She shot off like a rocket and snatched up her cell phone from the console table in the foyer. She had dialled and was asking for her mother before I had crossed the living room to stand by her.

She angled the phone away from her ear a little so I could hear Renee as well.

"Hello Bell's, she's fine." Renee laughed.

"Is she? Really mom?" Bella was close to sobbing.

"She is. She's had her grapes at snack time and she's played with the coloured water for a little bit and now she's at the craft table making macaroni necklaces for you and Edward."

"And has she been okay, with the other children I mean?" Bella asked hesitantly.

"She has, yes, perfect. She's not very fond of one little boy, he pulled her hair this morning, but she's befriended a little girl called Daisy and they've been inseparable all morning."

Bella sighed in relief and I squeezed her hand in mine. "That's great." She sighed. "Thanks mom." She blew the held breath out over her teeth and smiled at me.

"I wouldn't hurry to collect her if I was you, she's having a great time and you know I love having her here."

Bella looked to me and I shrugged, "It's up to you love." I told her.

"Ok mom. I'll think about it." Bella said.

"Ok, but I'm telling you she loves it. I'll see you when you get here." Renee rang off.

I bit the inside of my lip. "Well, at least she's enjoying it." I said to Bella with a wince. Part of me wanted her to hate it, for her to be missing us so badly she was throwing tantrums and Renee was toying with the idea of calling us to collect her. The rational part of me knew it was good for her to be there and even better that she enjoyed it.

"Yeah, at least she's enjoying it." She agreed sadly. "I hate it though." She mumbled.

I pulled her up against me and kissed her temple, "I hate it too." I chuckled. "Let's go out, use the time wisely." I suggested. She nodded. "Come and have a look at a plot of land I've seen."

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you have enjoyed this chapter. **


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41 – The Night Before Morning

41.

**BPOV**

Edward had the Veyron redlining all the way to Port Angeles. He loved this car, you could see it in the way he handled it, the way he caressed the wheel with his slender fingers. He made it purr like a panther as, together, they hugged the curves of the 101.

Just before we got to the turnoff to go towards the city he turned right. A blue edged sign announced we were heading into the 'Eclipse Industrial Way'. We followed it around a sharp bend and then he pulled to a stop beside a vast wasteland encased in mesh fencing.

"Come." He said as he held his hand out for me at my door. I took his hand and let him help me from the car. We walked towards the gates. A sign with the name of the owner, contractor and agent handling the sale was wired onto the fence. "He wants three million for the site, I've offered two, we'll see what I get it for. If you like it, that is, of course."

He used his fingers to twist the lock that held the gate closed and then he let it fall to the ground before he pushed the gate and ushered me through. There wasn't much to see. It was just wasteland. It was empty but flat. It was covered in weeds but there weren't any structures that would need to be torn down, at least. "How big is it?" I asked.

"Thirteen hectares in total. It stretches right back to Black Diamond Road which is a suburban street covered in houses. To the left are storage hangars for the airfield and to the right is public land. Its ear marked for residential or light commercial but as yet there are no plans to put anything on it." He walked a little way into the yard and pointed to a small wooded area about a hundred yards away. "If you go through those trees you eventually come to the Olympic National Park. It's a ten minute run to the Lake or thirty five minutes to the cottage." He winked at me and turned back to look over the land.

"Would it be hard to get permits to build a school here?" I asked as he turned fully 360° and surveyed the land.

He laughed then. "Probably. But nothing money wouldn't fix."

I shook my head. Money seemed to make most things disappear for the Cullen's. "Not everything can be fixed with money, Edward." I admonished good naturedly.

He ran to where I stood and took me into his arms and swung me around and around just as Emmett had done the day I'd found out what they were. "Ahh, Mrs Cullen, you are quite correct. Money can't fix us, but it can fix this." He put me down on my feet again and strode to the gate. "What do you think of the site?" He asked.

"I think it's perfect. Close enough to home that we can be here in minutes but far enough that it won't rule our lives. I hope you get it." I told him.

"Shall we go and see if my offer has been accepted?" He held the gate open and waited for me to join him.

I went to him, got onto my toes and kissed his cheek. "Anyone crazy enough to knock back any offer you'd make doesn't deserve you."

He chuckled and held the gate and then the car door for me.

He drove us back to Forks and right to the agency where Angela worked after school. She wouldn't be there now though, school was still in. An older girl with bright red lip gloss and two inch long talons for nails was chewing gum and rocking on her chair at reception when Edward and I went in.

Her scent registered as a burn in my throat. It was the first time since my change that I'd been presented with a human scent that I couldn't quantify in a relationship. This girl couldn't be paired with anyone and whilst I knew she was someone's daughter and someone's granddaughter it was a slender thread to hang my resolve on. I clamped my mouth shut and stood quietly beside Edward.

She hardly looked up as she asked what she could do for us. Edward sighed with contempt. "If Mr Nugent is available we'd like to see him. The name's Cullen." He said sternly. It was obvious he disapproved of this girl right from the off. She didn't do anything to ingratiate herself with him with her next words, either.

"Oh, um, Mr Nugent. Yeah, well, like he's in his office but he's on a call. You wanna sit out here till he's finished or what?" She popped her gum and finally decided to look up over the counter at us.

Her eyes widened first with surprise, then with fear. She swallowed the gum and gulped. She looked Edward over from his waist – which was as low as she could see from where she sat, luckily for her – to his bronze mop that glistened from the constant Forks drizzle and then she swallowed hard. "We'll wait." Edward said gruffly.

He turned on his heel and tugged me with him towards the seating area opposite her desk. I couldn't help but smile. It was always like this. They either fell instantly in love with him or couldn't wait to get away from him. There was no happy medium when it came to Edward Cullen. Unfortunately for me it was more often love. But it seemed 'Flick', as it said on her name tag, had gone for lust first, then settled on fear. Good for her. "What's she thinking?" I turned to face Edward slightly and whispered as low as possible, knowing she'd never understand even if she did manage to hear it.

He laughed and pursed his lips. "She's wondering what the hell we are." He chuckled lowly and Flick looked over the top of the desk at us. "She's just deciding whether to go back to the offices and tell Mr Nugent he better get off his call fast." He took my hand in his and put them both into his lap. He turned my wedding rings over and over while he tried not to be obvious while he watched the receptionist. "She's clocked your wedding rings, now she's looking for mine." He turned his hand slightly so that his gleaming gold band would be clearly visible to her. "She's seen it now, she's decided that you look dangerous and she's far better off with the boyfriend she's got, even though his feet smell and he's a sloppy kisser." He crinkled up his nose at that and I had to stifle my giggle.

Flick must have decided she wanted us away from her little piece of paradise because she got up and flounced off down the corridor to the offices in the back. I knew Mr Nugent from when I'd signed my lease so I knew his voice. She told him he had clients waiting and that we seemed 'creepy'.

She soon came back out and said he was ready to see us. She took a wide step to the side as we passed by her in the narrow corridor and then she scurried back to her desk.

Edward held the small of my back as I went into the small office first. "Hello Mr Nugent." I said but kept my hand to myself. He too had a maddening scent and was alone, unable to be paired into a relationship by me. I'd have to be careful in the small office.

"Ahh, Miss Swan, I didn't realise it was you. The receptionist said Cullen." He shook my hand and I heard Edward growl softly.

"It is Cullen. Mrs Edward Cullen." He said through gritted teeth, making the agent cringe back into his chair as soon as Edward had withdrawn his hand from the handshake. "And I'm her husband, Edward Cullen."

**EPOV**

Of course he'd know Bella as Miss Swan, it wasn't that had bothered me. It was his thoughts as she'd entered the office.

He'd eyed her from head to toe and decided she was 'ripe for the picking' as he'd put it in his thoughts. He had no fear of her but once I'd told him she was mine he'd decided that his fear of me overrode his interest in her. He might have been a snake in the grass but he was a quick study.

"Yes, yes of course." He said. "What can I do for you kids today then? First mortgage? A bigger rental?" He nodded first at me and then at Bella. He was wondering whether we'd decided to extend our 'brood' as he called Nessa.

"I contacted you two days ago to put in an offer for the property at Eclipse Industrial. I assume you have put the number to the vendor?" I said as politely as I could muster.

He blanched. He hadn't put two and two together and matched my name and voice on the phone to the person who'd bid two million for the property. He was expecting someone older, of course, not some cocky kid who seemed to be married and with a family right out of high school. "Oh, right, you're _that_ Cullen?" He asked and I nodded. "Good, good. Right, well then, let's have a look at the paperwork." He took out a manilla folder from a stack on his desk and flipped it open. He read through the top document, the acceptance of my first and only offer. I was elated but couldn't show it. He was trying to work out how to force me higher and get himself a fatter commission. "Oh, I see the bid has been rejected I'm afraid. The vendor needs a little more to cover the costs he's already incurred on the site you see." He screwed up his face in what he assumed was a sorrowful grimace. He was going to attempt to play 'helpful cop' now, offer to help us out.

I was in no mood.

"Oh that's a shame. Well, I guess that's that then. Come on Isabella. We'll go and have another look at that property over on West Second Street. It was bigger anyway." I stood, tugging Bella's hand so she stood too. I reached across the table and held my hand out for him. "Thank you for putting our bid forward."

He gulped then cringed. "Oh, wait. Look. Let me talk to him. How about you two go and have a nice cup of coffee in the waiting room and let me call him and I'm sure I can do a better deal for you." He was panicking about losing his commission altogether.

I had my back to him so I allowed myself a smug smile. I turned around and looked over the desk at him. "I tell you what. You've got however long it takes us to do a lap of the block in our car. If you can't reach him, and an agreement, by then we'll go with the other site." I tipped my head towards Bella who was already making her way out of the office, trying to hide her laughter as she went.

Mr Nugent cursed us all the way out of the building and the second the door had closed on us he began pacing his office and swearing loudly. So loudly, in fact, that Flick came running thinking he'd hurt himself.

"Get out you stupid girl!" He bellowed at her retreating back.

Now I was angry. She didn't deserve that. Sure, she was dim and she had appalling customer service skills, but she didn't deserve to be spoken to like that.

I ushered Bella into the Veyron and started the engine with a bad tempered roar of my own. "He's not only a pig but a liar too." I told her as we pulled out of the lot to do our obligatory lap.

"Is he?" She asked.

"He is. The bid was accepted he just wants a bigger commission. Now that he's yelled at that girl I'm loathe to even give him the commission he's due." I stomped on the gas and we lurched out into the pathetic excuse for downtown Forks traffic.

"Okay." She said quietly.

I took a deep breath and eased off the pedal. I reached over and patted her thigh. "Sorry love. Sorry." I cringed as she pulled slightly away from me. I pulled the car over at the first suitable place and turned the engine off. I pushed the release on her seatbelt and dragged her across the console into my lap. I buried my nose in her neck and told her I was sorry for my bad mood.

She put her fingers into my hair and crooned into it. "It's okay Edward, I know how badly you want this, that's all. You just have to calm down. He's going to confirm the bid and it will be fine. You know that already. Just because you don't like him doesn't mean you have to let him get to you."

I knew she was right but it still irked me. I wondered how many people he'd screwed out of wads of cash with this trick before? Unsuspecting people who knew no better and had no way of knowing about his deceit. I took a deep breath and kissed her mouth lightly. "You're right. We've as good as got the land my love." I threw her a smile and she matched it.

"I know. It's so exciting." She kissed me back.

I let her slide across and back into her seat and then we headed back to the agency. We sat in the lot for a few minutes while Mr Nugent tried to calm himself. I could hear him still agonising over how best to explain that the deal had indeed gone through and make it sound like he'd done me a favour.

"Let's go." I ushered Bella back into the agency and Flick said Mr Nugent was off the call to the owner and we could go on back to his office.

I kept Bella's hand in mine as we sat opposite the agent. "Well, he wasn't happy but I've managed to secure the property for you at the first amount." He beamed at me and offered his hand across the table for me.

I took it and squeezed just so, he grimaced but reminded himself of the commission and said nothing. "Good. I assume you have a contract that needs my signature?" I asked gruffly while he thought how ungrateful I was being.

"I do, I do." He shuffled the papers on his desk and drew out a pair of documents with red sticky flags hanging out from between the leaves. "If you'll just sign where the flags indicate I can begin the settlement process." He held the pen and papers out for me and I signed as indicated. "If you could forward me the details of your lawyer or whoever will be handling the finance I can get things started."

I pulled my wallet from my back pocket and then handed him a business card from my lawyer. "No finance. You give him the details of the sale he'll make the money over to the vendor the day of settlement." I told him. "The deed will need to be in both our names." I motioned towards Bella.

He was puce now. He kept saying 'no finance, no finance' over and over in his mind as he signed the contracts himself. He took the business card and stapled it to the front of the file. "I have your details on file Mrs Cullen." He nodded at Bella.

"I want a fast settlement. I'm prepared to throw another fifty thousand cash over the table on settlement if it can happen in twenty days." I announced.

His eyes widened and his heart skipped a beat. "I'll let him know."

"You do that." I stood, I was done. He took my hand again and bid us goodbye. He was eager for us to be gone so he could really call the owner and tell him he'd finally offloaded the property. As I walked us to the front doors of the building he began plotting how to make sure the owner never knew about the extra fifty. "Wait for me in the car please beautiful." I told Bella, leaning down and putting a soft kiss into her hair. She nodded and smiled. I strode back down the hall, past the oblivious Flick who now had headphones in both ears, and back into the office of Mr Nugent. He was startled to see me. "As an aside, I'll hand the cash over to the owner on settlement day, so best you get him here for that."

Then I walked back out and into the drizzle to meet Bella in the Veyron. It was a good day for business.

I clipped my seatbelt into its buckled and smirked, "We've got the land."

Bella giggled all the way out of the parking lot.

**BPOV**

Nessa leapt into my arms – in a very human way I noted – when Edward and I arrived to collect her after seeing the agent.

"Hello my darling." I crooned into her neck as I nuzzled her and took in her scent. I closed my eyes and drank her in, I felt settled and complete and oh so happy to finally have her back.

She smiled up at me but 'said' nothing. She merely reached for my chin and showed me our reunion as it had just occurred.

I smiled back to her and then turned us so she could see her father. "Hello my beauty." Edward whispered as she reached for him. My heart clenched in happiness as she burrowed into his chest, resting her head under his chin and sighed happily. She reached for his cheek and I assumed she showed him their reunion also because the serene beauty of his smile was breathtaking.

"She was wonderful, such a good girl." Renee told us as we stood in the little foyer to sign her out. "She played so well with the other children, especially Daisy." Renee pointed over her shoulder and out the window to where a little dark haired girl stood beside the swings with her arms wrapped around the pole as she waited for her turn. "Would you like to come and play with me and Daisy again tomorrow?" Renee asked Nessa.

Renesmee blinked rapidly and then looked up at Edward then over to me. I think she was asking permission. "Would you like that?" I asked trying to gauge what she felt before I answered for her. She nodded and smiled so I told Renee that would be great. "We're moving back in tomorrow mom, its Edward's birthday tomorrow." I smiled up at my husband whose eyes had gone decidedly darker in the few seconds since I'd spoken.

"Well then, that will give you two a couple of hours to um, settle back in." Renee giggled as she hugged me tight.

I'd not hunted for three days now and her scent hit me full force in the throat as she took me into the embrace. I clutched my throat absent mindedly with my hand and Edward's eyes caught mine. "We need to go now Renee." He said firmly, nodding towards me. My mother's eyes opened wide as she comprehended my predicament. "We'll bring Nessa by in the morning, thank you so much for having her. I'll fix up the bill tomorrow, alright?" Edward asked and Renee nodded.

"It's fine Edward. Go, I'll see you in the morning." She told us as Edward ushered me out to the Guardian.

Once we were in the car and moving I could let out my breath and took in a big gulp of the cleaner air inside the car. "Sorry about that, we've been so busy I've forgotten to hunt." I giggled.

I felt so guilty that my own mother would ignite my thirst just as strangers had.

"Don't apologise, love. We'll take this little one home for her nap and I'll watch her while you hunt, if you like?" Edward asked.

"Thank you." I whispered and put my hand in his lap.

**EPOV**

As soon as I announced Nessa was asleep Bella was gone out the backdoor of the apartment to hunt. She'd done so well to curb her thirst but I could tell she still felt guilty about having a thirst at all, especially when it was her parent that ignited it today. In time she'd be able to feed less frequently and she was already doing remarkably well, by anyone's standards.

I was actually pleased when Bella said she'd hunt, it gave me an opportunity to speak with Mr Newton on my own, without Bella knowing or hearing. School had let out half an hour ago and I'd seen his car in the drive two doors down so I knew he was in. So when Seth arrived I asked him to watch and listen for Nessa while I ran an errand.

I knocked on his front door and smiled when I heard his thoughts. He was worried that his nose had set crooked and that Carlisle may have done it on purpose. He was still in pain and the tablets he'd been prescribed hadn't done much so far. He'd had a bad day at school, he'd been teased about having been beaten by a punk kid and while his friends hadn't exactly sided with Seth they all sympathised with the kid because of what Mike had said.

"Oh shit, Cullen." He said as he opened the door and saw me standing there.

"Newton." I said darkly. "I need a word." I pushed past him into his flat and once he'd closed the door I turned to face him.

He was panicking, shaking and shivering with fright. He didn't know what I wanted but he assumed I'd either come to warn him off Bella or Seth, or both. "What do you want?" He asked cautiously. He stood behind the hideously stained armchair and thought it would make a decent enough barrier between us should I decide I wanted to hit him.

I wanted to laugh, but held my tongue. I began in a polite tone, "Good to see you're healing." He nodded but all the while he thought how much pain he'd been in. "I'm sure this will come as a surprise to you but I know what you're planning Mike. And I'm here to ask you, nicely, to reconsider."

His eyes widened before he had the smarts to alter his expression to one of incredulity. "I don't know what you're talking about, you're nuts." He scoffed.

I took a small step closer to the armchair and he flinched. "I think you do. You want revenge on Seth because he beat you so soundly. You want to beat him, return the favour, make your friends see you as the big man on campus." I smiled showing all my teeth and his heart rate soared.

"You're wrong. I don't give a shit about that kid. I don't even know what his problem is." He sputtered. "Schools out this week anyway, I won't see him." He said defiantly.

I smiled again and chuckled lowly. "Come now Mike, we both know that's not true. You'll find a way to goad him. Seth might have thrown the first punch but you threw the first insult."

"Yeah, maybe, but why does that little piss-ant care about what I say about Bella Swan and her kid? What do you care about Seth anyway?"

It was a fair question but it was none of his business. It grated that he'd used her maiden name and he knew I hated it when he did that. I ignored that part and explained the part I could. "It's Seth's business what you say about my wife and daughter because he's a friend of ours. A very good friend." I told him.

"You know he's over there all the time don't you? He's probably knocking the back out of your _wife _every night. Don't you care? And she lives there alone, without _you. _So why is it your business who she's seeing anyway?" He was shaking as he said it, already regretting it, knowing he'd gone too far.

It wouldn't have mattered anyway, he'd have thought it and I'd be just as angry then as I was now having heard it from his lips.

I pressed my finger and thumb to the bridge of my nose and attempted to rein in my anger. I took in a breath then blew it out steadily. I took another small step towards where he stood and he flinched again. "Listen to me Mike, and really hear me this time. Firstly, her name is Bella Cullen, we've had this discussion before, use her name correctly or I'll remove your ability to speak. Two, the kid is my daughter. It would be better for you if you didn't refer to her at all, ever, in any way. Three, Seth Clearwater is my friend and Bella's. I take very seriously what you say about him and what you are planning to do to him. If you attempt to contact him over the summer or even so much as mutter his name I'll know. If you try to set him up so he loses his temper, and he is subsequently expelled, I will take you on a drive from which you will never return. And this time I won't stop my brothers from doing to you exactly what they want to do to you. In fact, I'll help them dispose of your body." I was so close to where he stood now that I could feel him shivering in terror. My venom was rapidly exiting my throat and settling on my tongue so I knew he could smell it as I spoke.

He gripped the back of the armchair as though it was a life ring thrown overboard as he fell, it was the only thing keeping him upright as he came to realise that it _had_ been us who'd abducted him last year. "You're...you're...you're fucking crazy Cullen!" He shouted, his fear bubbling to the surface of his consciousness. "You bastards, it was you!" He pointed at me and shivered. "You fucking bastards. I'll have you thrown in jail for this." He bellowed.

It was the standard reaction. 'I'll tell the police and you'll go to jail'. Under normal circumstances he was quite right. In this case, however, he was dead wrong.

I grinned. I knew it was a sinister, menacing grin because in his thoughts he was praying he wouldn't piss himself until after I'd left. "I'll tell you how this works Mike. You stay the fuck away from my wife, my daughter, my family and my friend Seth and we'll never have to find out just how much I'd have to do to you before your bladder gives way down your inner leg."

He opened his mouth to ask how I knew about that then he closed it again just as quickly. He let go of the chair and threw his hands up in surrender. "Alright, fuck, I'll leave them alone. Christ, I just wanted to pull her. You're a fucking psycho man!" He staggered back away from the chair and waved his hand at the front door. "Leave man, just leave." His voice cracked.

"I'm going. Good seeing you again Mike, hope I never do again." I pulled the door shut behind me and waited a few seconds before beginning the walk back to Bella's.

His sobs subsided soon after he realised he was going to have to clean up his own piss because he no longer lived with his mommy.

I took huge gulps of clean air as I walked back to Bella's flat. My rage, coupled with my bloodlust, had almost gotten the better of me. I was proud of the fact that I'd resisted tearing his heart out with my bare hands.

I was mentally patting myself on the back when I looked up to see Bella standing beside the Guardian, arms folded across her chest, staring right at me.

I smiled at her as I approached, she did not return it.

"What did you do?" She hissed as I came nearer.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "What? I was being neighbourly." I tried smiling again but she wasn't buying the bullshit I was selling.

**BPOV**

He was so full of shit it wasn't even funny.

I'd come back from the hunt to find Seth on my sofa and Edward gone. When I asked Seth where he'd gone he just said he'd gone visiting. It was his smile that alerted me to just how dangerous Edward visiting someone near here could be.

So I'd waited at the Guardian for him. I knew he'd come out of Mikes house eventually. I also knew he was controlled enough to leave Mike intact as long as Mike kept his mouth shut. Edward's gait and his cocky smile told me Mike was fine, physically.

"Is he alright?" I nodded over his shoulder towards Mike's house.

He laughed and reached for me. I swatted his arm.

"He's fine. We just had a little chat, nothing sinister. God woman, like I'd hurt the poor pathetic little boy." He laughed again.

"He better be okay Edward." I admonished.

"Why, you got a soft spot for the Newton?" He grimaced.

"Not at all. But someone will have seen you come and go." I told him.

"He's perfectly fine. I swear. Actually, no, he's not perfectly fine. His nose is killing him and now he's got his own pee to clean up. He aint a happy camper." He chuckled.

I crinkled my nose up in disgust and wriggled free of his embrace and went back inside. He followed but said nothing more.

He fist bumped Seth on the way past the sofa and I rolled my eyes. They were a pair!

When Nessa woke I tried to get her to eat some of the cookies Esme and I had made earlier but she hated them. The chocolate buttons on top of them she loved, but the cookies themselves not so much. Seth on the other hand inhaled them. He drank the glass of milk I set on the table but Nessa wouldn't even try it. She said it reminded her of the icky formula Nana-Ne had tried to feed her the day after she was born.

That she could articulate that, and recount for us the day after she was born still floored me!

When the night began to close in I began to get agitated. I couldn't help it. The closer the time came for when Edward would leave and take Seth home the more anxious I became. It was less than twenty four hours until I was moving back to the cottage with him but I didn't want to be apart from him, even now.

I left Nessa and Seth to their quiet talk in the living room and went into the kitchen to clean up from their dinner, most of which Nessa had fed to the bin, again.

Edward came in and leant against the counter. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" He asked quietly.

I spun around to stare at him. How had he known?

"I can read your face so well Bella. You're upset about something." He held his hands out for me and I went to him willingly. I tucked my head under his chin and drank in his scent.

"You're going to leave again." I whispered.

He sighed, kissed the top of my head and then whispered in return, "I am."

He kissed me again. "But, you could ask me to come back again."

"You could offer." I said.

"I could, but this is your house, you have to invite me."

"I'm inviting you." I mumbled.

"Then I accept." He kissed my temple and let me go.

I hid my face when I turned, not wanting him to see the utter relief I felt.

We made more plans for the school that night. I lay in his arms the entire night and we talked, really talked. About his vision for the school and how best to make it happen. We talked about some long term plans for our family and about Nessa's education. We talked about Seth and how best to approach the topic of him staying with us at the cottage in Nessa's room.

We lightly touched on the Romanian problem, but it was obvious that Edward still knew nothing further about their intentions and seeing as I knew next to nothing about the entire situation that part of our discussion was short.

When the sun rose I covered his face with kisses and wished him a happy birthday. I had nothing for him and he said he wanted nothing other than what I was giving him by coming home.

When Nessa woke he took her into the shower with him and then he got her dressed while I made hers and Seth's breakfast. The usual struggle was had trying to get her to try toast and orange juice – she didn't screw her face up or spit out the orange juice though she did put in a mild performance just for my benefit, I think – and while Edward took Seth to school I packed what was left of my things into a box.

"By the time you come home from daycare today we'll be at the cottage in the woods again little one." I told Nessa as she packed Frank very carefully into a box in her room.

"Yippee!" She bellowed. Her soft giggles filled the almost empty apartment.

"I guess you're happy about that then?" I giggled along.

"I get to sleep in _my_ bed in _my _room and _my_ daddy will be there, won't he momma?" She tilted her head to one side exactly like Edward did, it made my heart melt.

I scooped her up and nuzzled her neck. "Yes you little monkey, your daddy will be there, always." I told her. "Come on, he'll be back to pick us up soon."

We were waiting in the Guardian's parking space when he returned from the school. I clipped Nessa into her car seat and then Edward held my door while I got into the passenger seat.

He kissed me lightly on the cheek and whispered 'hey' to me then he shut the door.

When he was in the car I leaned over and kissed his cheek and whispered 'hey' in return. His smile was brilliant.

There were no tears and no arguments from Nessa when we got to the daycare centre this time. She ran straight into Renee's arms and then ran back to both Edward and I and kissed us both on the cheek. With a soft little giggle and a whispered 'bye mommy, bye daddy' she went off happily with her hand in her grandmothers. Edward signed her in and then we were away back to the apartment.

Jasper was there waiting for us when we got there. He was sitting in a plain white rental van, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel in time with the radio.

"Good morning ma'am." He drawled as he let his long legs unfold out of the high cab of the van. "I believe I'm here to collect some unwanted furniture?" His cheeky smile was filled with pearly white teeth and not just a little cheekiness. "Happy birthday man." He fist bumped Edward and then the two brothers embraced tightly. It was a nice thing to see.

Edward pulled out his phone and then tapped something onto the screen. A few seconds later Jasper's phone beeped. "That's the address of the women's shelter, they're expecting you." Edward told him.

Once the three of us were inside I began to tell Jasper which things needed to go to the cottage and which things were to go to the shelter. While the two boys put the bigger pieces into the van I packed the last few things from the kitchen into a box and sealed it shut with tape.

By the time all the furniture was out and Jasper had driven off all that was left was four boxes. One from my bedroom, one from Nessa's, one from the kitchen and one with odds and ends in it from the laundry and bathroom. Edward put those into the Guardian while I did one last check.

He stood up against the car, ankles crossed, with a shit eating grin on his face while I shut and locked the front door for the last time. I went to him and stood between his knees. His arms still crossed I leaned across them and kissed his smug lips. "Take me home Edward." I purred.

His whole face broke into a smile. He dropped his arms and put them around my waist. "I've waited so long to hear you say that." He whispered against my throat.

He put me into the passenger seat then ran to the driver's side. He sped all the way home and didn't bother putting the car into the garage or going into the big house to say hello to anyone who might be there.

He simply opened my car door, waited till I was out then grabbed my hand and ran off through the trees towards the cottage.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. I hope you've found something of interest in this chapter. Please review and let me know if you have. If you haven't, please review and let me know that too. **


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42 – Happy Birthday Edward

42.

**BPOV**

I'd noticed the new front door last time I was here but hadn't asked. I put the key in the lock and turned my head over my shoulder to Edward, "One day you'll have to tell me why we have a new front door."

His smug smile told me it was an interesting tale. "I will, one day."

I pushed the door open and flared my nostrils to take in the familiar scents of home. He'd been here quite recently, maybe the day before and when I saw my boxes stacked neatly in the hallway I knew why.

I put my wallet, keys and cell phone on the little console table by the door and went into the living room proper. Everything was just as it had been, of course. But it felt new to me now.

Edward came into the room and stood by the back of the sofa, his shuddering hands resting on the back of it as he watched me take in my surroundings.

"It's good to be home." I whispered, smiling at him.

He smiled too, a radiant ecstatic smile. "It's so fucking good to have you here." He replied a little unsteadily.

"Have me here, Edward." I blurted out without really thinking about it before I said it. My hand flew to my mouth as if I was able to take the words back and push them back into my mouth.

But Edward was in front of me in a tenth of a second, his mouth covering mine, his hands at my hips pulling me to him.

His tongue sought entry and I gladly allowed it. I parted my lips and let him explore my mouth while my hands explored his back, his neck and his shoulders. I let my nails rake over his ribs and abs as he deepened the kiss and pulled me up against his already hard length.

"God Bella." He growled into my ear as he shifted his attentions to my neck and throat. His teeth nipped their way from the top of my shoulder up into the hollow below my ear. "I want you so badly." He growled again into my ear.

I slid my hands lower across his back and cupped his ass. "I want you too Edward." I agreed into his neck as my lips found the soft flesh of his throat.

He bit my earlobe and my knees buckled. This was what I wanted. I didn't want soft and gentle and I didn't want him to make love to me, I wanted him to have me. To take me. To make it quite plain that I was his and he was mine. There was time enough today for sweet and sensual.

I clutched at him with my nails and felt the low rumbling in his belly as I slid them across the waistband of his jeans. I had my finger and thumb on either side of the button on his fly when he jerked away from me, pulling my shoulders so that I there was a foot of space between us.

"No." He shouted. All I could do was blink. "No Bella, I have to say something to you first." He took both my hands in his and held them firmly. "Before you give yourself to me as my wife I have to say this." He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. "This is a new beginning for us Bella. I swear I'll do it all right this time. No secrets. No lies. No withholding. You'll be so sick of my full disclosure you'll be telling me to shut up by winter." I chuckled. "I love you so very much, thank you for giving me another chance. Thank you for coming home."

I leaned over and kissed him lightly at the corner of his mouth. It was such a perfect promise to make. "Thank you for making that promise Edward. I promise I'll ask questions in future and I promise I'll never leave again. I love you too Edward."

His smile was heart stoppingly beautiful. "Thank you." He whispered and then he launched himself at me.

He caught me at my waist and barrelled us towards the wall beside the piano. His lips were on my mine before we hit it fully. I heard the plaster crack and the soft groan of the timber behind me as he shoved me hard up against it.

His fingers were in my hair then, holding my head still so he could delve his tongue into my mouth deeply. All I could do was sigh heavily as he made love to my mouth.

I wrapped one leg around his thigh and tried to pull him harder up against me. I was desperate for some friction, some relief from this perpetual ache I'd had since the last time he'd had me.

He pulled his lips from mine and I couldn't suppress the strangled sob as he did. I watched him lick his bottom lip before he lowered his mouth to my throat. He suckled my skin into his mouth and when I felt the first sting of his venom I cried out his name.

He bucked his hips into me as I did, sending shivers through my whole body as his hardness pressed home against my pubic bone. I clutched at his shoulders, his back, and his hips as I tried to pull him into me despite the barrier of our clothing.

"I wanted this to be softer, gentle." He groaned against my shoulder as he sunk his teeth into me, making me whimper and stumble.

"No." I rasped. "Not soft, take me."

"Jesus Christ Bella." He growled into my ear. "I'll break you in half."

I threaded my hands into his hair and pulled his face up to mine. "Do it." I snarled into his open mouth.

He closed his eyes momentarily and then I heard the seams on my jeans tearing as he used his nails to divest me of them in the fastest manner possible.

He opened his eyes and stared at me as his hands slid up under my twin shirts – I still wore his under mine – I lifted my arms and he pulled them off over my head leaving me standing there in nothing more than panties and bra.

As he tore his shirt off over his head I saw the soft pink of my shirt from yesterday under his and smiled smugly. He still couldn't 'be' without my scent near his skin.

I twisted the first button on his fly and felt it give. I was reaching for the second when he stilled my hands and tore the fly open roughly. He took a half step backwards and pulled them off, flinging them to the ground at my feet. His boxers joined them and then he was naked before me. In all his pale marble glory.

I didn't get a chance to absorb just how magnificent he was because my face was turned roughly back to his, between his palms, so he could kiss me once more.

I pulled him to me, using his hipbones, and pushed myself upwards and into his hot prick, folding it hard up against my belly. He groaned into my mouth making me flood with desire.

He let my face go and wound his arms around me. I felt the release of my bra and then it was pulled roughly off my arms before his lips descended onto my tattoo. His thumb and forefinger pinched my nipple, hard, before his teeth dug into the soft raised flesh of his name. "Fucking glorious." He whispered as he bit me again and again.

I held his head to me using my fingers, pushing my breast up into his hand and mouth as hard as I could, desperate for some relief.

When his lips replaced his fingers around my nipple I cried out. It was bliss inside his mouth. Wet and warm and his teeth flicked across the sensitive bud in rhythm with his hips as he ground himself into me. I needed more. It wasn't enough; it would never be enough until he was inside me.

I pulled on his hair until he let my breast go. When his eyes met mine they were so dark they looked like night, no discernable difference between his pupil and iris. It was fucking hot! "Now." I begged, knowing he'd know what I meant.

"Now." He agreed.

He shredded my panties with his nails and I let them fall away from my legs. He gripped my hips in his hands and pushed me up the wall. When I was two feet off the ground he reached lower, holding my ass in his hands and lowered me so I was hovering over his cock. I wrapped my legs around him and begged him to push into me. But still he held me there, half an inch from the promised land.

"Please." I begged.

"Say it." He growled.

"Mine." I whimpered as I squirmed in his hands trying to lower myself. I used my shoulders against the wall for leverage and attempted to push myself down the wall towards his prick.

"Fucking say it Bella." He rasped again, holding me firm.

I knew what I had to do to get from him what I wanted so I took my hands off his shoulders and thrust them into his hair. I pulled tightly, making him wince. I bared my teeth and licked them to make my venom flow more freely. I stared down into his eyes and with a last, smug grin I shouted, "You're fucking mine Edward."

His eyes widened and his hands pinched tighter and then he pulled me down onto him, spearing himself into me in one long, hard stroke.

I was so unprepared for the immediate climax that my body jiggered as though I was having some sort of fit. "YES!" I bellowed as the orgasm ripped through me, all consuming, thundering up from the soles of my feet, pooling in my centre and rushing up to my brain. Long waves of ecstasy gripped me, making me shudder and shake up against the wall as it overcame me. "Yes." I whimpered as it rocked me. "Edward...yes...Edward yes..." Was all I could say as I began to come back down.

"Yes Bella..." He whispered against my throat as he held me through it.

**EPOV**

I waited until her release had subsided and then I began to rock into her. I wanted to go slow, my brain wanted to go faster and my cock wanted me to go at a blur.

I settled for somewhere in the middle.

I held her firmly at her hips and pushed her back up the wall on each withdrawal so I could pull her onto me harder as I thrust upwards and back into her.

She whimpered and panted, screamed and writhed. It was fucking euphoric!

'_Oh god...oh god...oh god...there, yes there...so good...'_ I flinched when I heard it and I almost dropped her. She actually slid half a foot down the wall, almost breaking my cock in half as she fell!

'Jesus Bella.' I thought.

I righted her by gripping her tighter across her back and holding her to me, pushing her back up the wall. I pushed back into her and sighed with relief.

'_Did you forget baby?' _Her tone, even in thought, was playful and I had to smile.

'Yeah, I guess I did.' I conceded mentally.

I held her still and buried my nose into her throat. I took a deep breath and began to stroke her again. Slowly at first, rocking back and forth, only half of me going in and then half coming back out. When she clutched at me fiercely and dug her nails into my shoulders I sped up. Three quarters of me inside her, she'd pant, three quarters withdrawn.

'_Stop teasing...fuck me Edward...make me yours again...'_ She bellowed in her thoughts.

It was too much for me. The rush of endorphins hit my brain all at once and I pushed hard up into her, forcing her shoulders to the wall, cracking it and making it rain plaster dust. 'You're fucking mine Isabella...' I told her as I forced all of myself inside her. 'You cum with me...do you hear me...you cum with me...when I say...' I growled in my thoughts.

'_Yes...when you say...yes...so good...too good...give it to me...give it to me...' _She begged.

I pushed her higher again and as I screamed for her to cum with me I bit down at her breast and let my venom flow into her flesh as I pulsed my release deep into her body.

She cried out and began to spasm around me sending shockwaves through my thighs as I tried to ride my own climax and steady us so she could ride hers. I kept my teeth clamped tight to her breast and rocked back and forth as my balls clenched and released rhythmically.

"Yes...oh yes...I love you so much...so much..." She crooned into my hair as I held her aloft.

"I love you too." I mumbled almost incoherently against her breast.

I gave one last shallow push and felt my orgasm recede. I let go of her nipple and kissed it softly, letting my venom flow into the wound I'd made. I watched it seal and then I buried my face in the soft skin between her breasts. I held her firmly and allowed us to slide down the wall. I stayed inside her, never wanting the connection to be broken. With her legs either side of mine we sat there, on the floor in the living room.

I stroked her hair and whispered my love to her over and over. She kissed me softly all over my face and neck and held me to her, echoing my declarations.

'You are everything I've ever wanted.' I told her silently.

'_I never thought to ask for you, I didn't know I wanted you until I had you.' _She told me, making me smile.

**BPOV**

We stayed like that for a while just whispering softly then just thinking what we wanted the other to know. As long as he stayed inside me we could communicate that way, so I made sure to sit very still in his lap.

'_I don't want to move.' _He chuckled in his thoughts.

'Then we won't.' I told him silently.

'_Kiss me; let's see if we can stay this way a while longer.' _He thought with a low growl.

I used my finger to lift his chin so that I could reach his lips. I swiped my tongue across his bottom lip and felt him twitch inside me. I smiled against his lips and heard him snigger. 'Are you ready for softer, Edward?' I asked him without words.

He lifted his hips off the floor and I felt him harden slightly inside me. I groaned. He had no idea how much it turned me on when he did that.

'_I do now.' _He laughed even in thought. '_Tell me you want me again.' _

I sucked his tongue into my mouth and bit it softly, 'I want you always...every minute of every day...every second of every night...I want you Edward.' I told him.

'_Perfection...you are perfection...'_ He told me as I rolled my hips and pushed at his shoulders.

I broke the kiss and forced him back onto the floor. I arched up over him and ground my hips into his. I felt him stiffen still further and let a sly grin come over my face. 'And you're hard.' I replied cheekily.

'_I am.' _He forced his hips higher and I felt the tip of him hit as high as he was able inside me. I threw my head back and groaned at the sensation. '_Perpetually hard around you.' _

I leaned further forward over him and kissed him softly as I lifted myself up off him slightly, then lowered myself back down very carefully. He moved his hands to my hair and began to stroke me softly with his thumbs. I braced myself against his chest and used my palms to hold myself steady above him.

I leaned back a little and began to rock on his now hard length. I closed my eyes as his hands fell away from my hair and travelled down over my shoulders and came to rest on my breasts. He thumbed the nipples and rolled them between his fingers and the stirring sensations began to build inside me once again.

How can I want this again so soon? How can I possibly be able to climax again, only minutes after having done so already? How can he do this to my body so easily I wondered as I rose and fell on him.

'_Because I'm your mate Bella, I'm your mate and I love you and that's why I can do this to you so easily.' _He told me as he bucked his hips upwards, forcing himself deeper inside me and making me gasp with pleasure.

I tried so hard to temper my movements. Being above him like this was powerful for me. Being able to look down and see him lying there as though he was at my mercy quickened my desire and made my venom run out. I braced myself against his chest and curled my knuckles over so I wouldn't rock too quickly. He wanted gentle, soft, I could give him that.

I had to close my eyes so I couldn't see his face. If I looked down into his eyes and saw his passion building as mine was I would lose all perspective and just bounce up and down with abandon!

Under my hands I felt his belly rumbling and squinted one eye open to see why. He was laughing, great gulps of laughter. He'd read me, of course. I swatted at his stomach with my hands and then threw myself backwards, gripping his thighs tightly, digging my nails in as I got a hold. He hissed as I began to lift and lower myself onto him more firmly, more forcefully.

'_God yes...do that baby.' _He thought as his hands closed over my hips.

'Do you want it like this Edward...hard like this...?' I asked as I slid back down again. 'Or do you want it slow and soft?' I asked.

'_Just keep going...please...keep going...yes...like that...higher...' _His grip on my hips tightened as he thought it and I plunged myself down onto him roughly then reared up again, higher than I had before, almost letting his length slip from within me before I plunged back onto him again.

He roared into the air when I was once again sheathed over him entirely.

"Faster." He shouted as I rose up again. "Faster." He shouted again as I sunk down onto him.

The ecstasy on his face and in his brain was too much for me and I felt the first stirrings of my own release beginning in my belly. The intense tightening of my inner muscles alerted Edward to it and he bucked wildly beneath me as I strove forward for my climax.

"Cum for me...that's it...let me feel you cum...ride it...ride me...yes..." He rasped out between clenched teeth as my orgasm gripped me.

I tried to stay upright as it crashed around me but I couldn't. I flung myself forward onto his chest and clung to him as spasm after spasm rocked through my limp body. I panted my love for him into his throat and licked and kissed him as it crested then retreated, taking my ability to function with it.

'_Hold onto me baby.' _He told me as he pushed his knees upward and slowly got into a sitting position. Using his hands he pushed up off the floor and held me to him, with him still inside me, and walked us down the hall and into our bedroom. Gently he lowered me onto the comforter and covered me with his beautiful body, wrapping his arms around my back.

He kissed me long and languidly as he began to stroke me once more. I wrapped my legs lazily around his hips and held him to me with my interlaced hands. The kiss changed and became more demanding as his thrusts became more urgent and needy. He shifted higher onto his knees and slid his hands under my bottom, holding me up a little higher as he thrust into me. 'Oh god...I'm going to cum again...hold onto me Edward...oh god...I love you...I love you...' I whimpered in my brain as the extreme pleasure took control of the last of my resolve and flung me over the edge towards oblivion once again.

**EPOV**

'So beautiful...so beautiful...cum for me...so beautiful.' I told her as she climaxed for me again. I pressed my lips to her collarbone and suckled her skin into my mouth as she rode her orgasm out to its last.

When her shaking and shuddering began to wane I recommenced my thrusts. More slowly this time, concentrating on depth rather than intensity. I dipped my mouth to her throat and pulled her flesh between my teeth. I sucked hard making her moan and tighten her grip on my ass.

I dug my toes into the mattress to gain some leverage and slid home again and again as she writhed beneath me. A fiery rush was building deep within me and I felt it begin in my belly first. By the time I knew it for the release it was going to be I could feel it across my skin like a rash. I panted my pleasure into her throat and ear and held her hard up against me with my hands beneath the curve of her back. I tried to bring her with me, make her climax as I did but it was a futile wish.

In the end it was her thoughts that drove me over the edge and headlong into my second orgasm of the day.

'_Mine...always mine...mark me as yours...you're mine Edward...'_ She was thinking as my teeth closed around the skin at her throat and my length exploded inside her again.

'Mine...always mine...' I told her via our connection as the fire ripped through me and into her.

I gave one last mighty thrust and collapsed onto her heaving chest. Spasm after spasm made my body jerk and twitch as my release crested then ebbed away. I felt dizzy, light dancing behind my eyes as I fought for control of my senses.

She too was spent, four orgasms in such a short time made her thoughts sluggish and her body almost limp beneath me.

We'd never truly tire but this had to be as close as we could get to it.

I rolled sideways and brought her with me, unwilling to disconnect our bodies yet. She lay between my legs, on her side, with me still inside her. I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her hair.

"Happy Birthday Edward." She whispered into my chest.

"Welcome home baby." I replied into her hair.

She groaned when I slipped from within her. I mumbled a sorry and went into the bathroom. I turned the taps and let the tub begin to fill then I went back to the bed and took her into my arms once again.

We lay perfectly still for fifteen minutes and when I stood I brought her up with me and carried her, bridal style, into the bathroom. The tub was three quarters full so I turned the taps off and pulled her back into my arms. In total silence we sunk beneath the steaming hot water and to the floor of the tub.

I leaned over, behind her right shoulder, and flicked the switch to turn the bubble jets on. The room was filled with the whir of the water as it massaged our limbs and brought us back to our senses.

I leant back into the end of the tub and then pulled her up between my legs, her back to my chest. I let my head fall backwards so I could stare up at the sky through the massive glass ceiling. The rain made swirling patterns on the glass and the clouds moved fast across the sky. There was no telling what time it was.

She let her head fall back and rested it on my shoulder. With her fingers tracing lazy circles on my thighs we sighed as one. "I love you Edward." She purred.

"As I love you Isabella." I concurred, punctuating it with a kiss to her hair.

She looked up then. "It's hard to believe two days ago we were playing in the sun at the beach." She laughed, looking at the pelting rain.

"I know." I slid my hands over her belly. "If we want to swim with Nessa in the next few days we'll have to do it in the pool house."

She stiffened under my hands and turned abruptly, splashing water over the edge of the tub. Her hand flew to her mouth, "Oh my god, we forgot Nessa." She was about to leap from the tub when I reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"It's alright Bella, Esme has her." I smiled, loving how concerned she was for our child. "I arranged it yesterday. Esme picked her up and has her at the big house. We don't need to be up there until seven. Alice has something planned, I think."

Bella relaxed then and with a beautiful smile she slid back into the water and sat in my lap, her legs to the side and her head tucked under my chin. "So we're alone until seven?" She asked.

I had to chuckle. "Yes Bella, we're alone till seven. What did you have in mind?"

I felt her laugh rather than heard it, "I have no preconceived ideas. What about you?"

"I have many, many preconceived ideas." I laughed in response. "Would you like me to show you one or two of them?" I suggested.

She reached around behind my neck and tugged my hair as she lifted her eyes to mine. "How about you tell me one of them and then I can decide if it's something I'd like to participate in." She grinned.

"I suppose that might work, yes, I'll tell you one of my ideas and you tell me if it's what you want." I said it as though I was conceding to her will. I slid a hand around her waist and pulled her down firmly onto my gradually reawakening arousal. "If you were to consent I'd quite like to slip a finger, or two, up inside you. Perhaps I could give you an orgasm or two that way first." Her gasp was gorgeous. She truly did look as though she could blush. "Then, once you were a quivering mess on my fingers I'll let you suck my fingers clean." She moaned then, wakening me further. "Ahh, you see, you moaning like that makes me hard so perhaps I'd have to dispense with the foreplay and just go straight to fucking you again."

"NO!" She shouted and then reached up to cup her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide with fright that she'd said that out loud.

"I can see you are adverse to that part of the idea. So, fingers it is." I tipped her backwards over my arm and as she slid lower into the tub I let my free hand cup her sex, making her hiss loudly. "But not so adverse to this part I think." I slid a finger up between her folds and felt her stiffen and sigh. "No, not so adverse to this." I slid my finger into her up to my knuckle and felt her clench down onto me.

"Jesus Edward." She whimpered as she clung to my neck.

"I know baby." I whispered hoarsely, "It's not ever going to go away you know? This desperation I feel for you...I'll always want you this way..." I trailed off as I thumbed her clit and slid a second finger inside her. "Now I need you to concentrate Isabella...I want you to cum on my fingers so you can taste it for yourself..."

She bucked her hips and I smiled.

A long, low, rasped out gasp of 'yes' left her lips as the first stirrings of her release flooded my palm.

I had her in the tub and then again in the shower as we'd tried – not very convincingly – to get clean in readiness to go to the big house that night. As it was we arrived more than half an hour late because we took a small detour and ended up against a tree kissing as though our lives depended on it, each of us unwilling to break the embrace because we knew it would mean we'd have to behave for a few hours with the family.

We were greeted as though we had returned from a year long odyssey to Europe rather than a few stolen hours alone in our home, but both Bella and I were eager to see Renesmee before any festivities could begin to welcome her home.

I stood at the foot of the stairs and called for her. I knew she was upstairs with Alice and I knew they'd spent quite a while getting ready for whatever it was that Alice had been planning for my birthday and Bella's return. I braced myself for what I was going to see as my daughters light footsteps came down the hall towards the staircase.

Bella sucked in a gasp and Rose and Esme began to clap as Nessa descended the stairs daintily.

She had on a white dress that had a long satin sash tied around her waist. Her hair was a mass of messy curls that framed her face. In her hand she clutched a brightly wrapped present with trailing blue ribbons and an enormous bow.

She had tights on and on her feet were a miniature pair of white patent leather pumps.

She looked so much older than her seven months – or her twenty-one months in human terms for that matter. To me, as a father she looked about sixteen. She stood on the bottom step and held out the gift to me. "Happy Birthday, daddy." She grinned.

I leant down and took the parcel and then her hand. I brought it to my lips and kissed it softly. "Thank you beautiful girl." I told her, making her smile widely. "Come on down and show everyone how pretty you look." I held her hand and escorted her into the living room.

She wasn't interested in anyone other than her mother, though. She sought Bella and once she had her in her sights she ran to her and launched herself into her mother's arms.

"Hello my darling." Bella crooned into her neck as she inhaled deeply.

"I missed you mommy." Nessa announced placing tiny kisses onto Bella's cheeks.

Soft sighs and a few 'awws' were heard as everyone watched the touching reunion of mother and child.

"I missed you too little one." Bella told the wriggling little girl. She set her back on her feet but kept hold of her hand. She held it above Nessa's head and asked her to twirl. The little girl did as she was bid and the floaty gauze of her skirt made a wide arc as she showed off for the family. "You look so pretty." Bella told her. "Aunty Alice has been busy." She giggled lightly.

"I picked the dress momma." Nessa announced as she went to find Seth who was sitting on the sofa with Emmett and Rose. She stopped in front of him and then looked over her shoulder to where Alice now stood at the top of the second floor landing. I saw Alice nod once then Nessa turned back to Seth. She did the sweetest little curtsey in front of him then smiled, "Do you like my dress Sethy?"

His smile could've lit up the night sky it was so wide and his teeth so white. "You look very pretty little lady." He told her as she climbed up into his lap and reached for his cheek.

I watched as she showed him a replay of her curtsey and then his smile.

"You should open that." Alice broke my concentration on the scene in front of me by touching me lightly on the elbow as she came to stand beside me. "Happy birthday big brother." She kissed me on the cheek and went to stand with Jasper.

"Happy birthday Edward." Carlisle came to me and shook my hand and clapped me on the shoulder. '_I won't ask what your wife gave you.'_ He laughed in his thoughts. I shot him a half hearted scowl that he chuckled at.

"Happy birthday dear." Esme was next and I hugged her tightly after she kissed my cheek.

"Happy birthday Ed." Jasper fist bumped me and retreated back to his position beside Alice.

Rose swept in and hugged me to her, "Happy birthday Edward." She said then kissed my cheek softly.

I knew Emmett had more to say than just happy birthday so I waited patiently while he unfolded himself from the sofa and came towards me, fist at the ready. I happily bumped my fist to his and accepted his manly back slap. "Happy birthday bro. It feels weird not to say seventeen and never been kissed this year." He chuckled and I hoped that would be the end of it. But even I knew better than to hope for that. "Oh, and when you're ready for me to repair that gaping hole in your living room wall you just let me know, bro." He winked at me, clapped my shoulder again and then turned to Bella. He held his thumbs up as a painter would to get an idea for depth and perspective and then he smiled widely. "Yeah, you called it Alice, I bet the hole's about as wide as her shoulders."

The room erupted into loud laughs. Bella joined in, traitor.

**BPOV**

If he thought this ribbing was bad then he had another thing coming. Jasper, Alice and I had been planning his birthday surprise ever since Renesmee had been born.

Alice had seen this only a few days after Renesmee's birth and had told me about it only because she thought it was so funny. I'd cringed at the time, it wasn't something you wanted your sister in law to either know about you, or to have seen you doing, but did agree that it was pretty funny.

It had been hard to keep this from him, especially for Emmett. He had purposely been left out of the planning because he confessed to being so bad at keeping things from Edward. Rose had put in her money without arguing. She said she didn't care that she had to be kept in the dark as long as it was something that would make Edward cringe. I knew it, would so she was happy to go along with the plan.

Esme had baulked but only until I'd told her that the gift itself was perfectly legitimate and that it was what he was going to do with the gift that was a little, um, off colour. She had cringed, told me she didn't want to know and handed over her check.

Carlisle desperately wanted in on the secret but I knew he'd let something slip in his thoughts as easily as Emmett would if Edward took it upon himself to ask or to check. So he'd been reluctant to participate without knowing details but had handed over his check once he knew Esme had.

The two others had to be in on it because, back then, I hadn't been able to shake Edward for long enough to make it happen without either being caught or leaving a paper trail behind as I organised it.

So Jasper had seen to it that the purchase was made and was exactly as we required and Alice had been in charge of getting it delivered, certified, insured and positioned for tonight's reveal.

God knows what we would've done with this gift had I not come home when I did.

So now here I stood, in the living room of the big house with six very anxious vampires waiting for the big reveal. Seth and Nessa couldn't have cared less. They were so consumed with each other. Nessa wanted to share every part of her day with Renee with him and he was just as eager to see and hear every detail she cared to share.

Emmett was bouncing on the soles of his feet in anticipation. Alice looked like she was constipated and I guessed she was reciting something complicated in her mind so Edward wouldn't see what was going on.

"Are you going to open that?" Alice asked Edward again.

He came towards me and sat in front of me on the edge of the ottoman. He tore at the paper and I tapped Nessa on her shoulder to get her attention as her father unwrapped the gift she'd chosen for him.

"Oh thank you darling." He cried as the book slipped from its paper into his hands. It was a huge music dictionary bound in fine leather. I could smell it from where I stood.

Nessa beamed. "Mommy helped me." She threw me a lovely smile and I nodded.

"Thank you so much girls." He leaned back and threw me a smile to match Nessa's.

"That's not, technically anyway, my gift Edward." I couldn't help starting to giggle as I said it. "Your gift from me, from all of us actually, is out in the driveway. Come and see."

He put the book onto the ottoman and took my hand as I led him through the front doors. Nessa and Seth stayed put on the sofa, just as I wanted them to. This wasn't for children.

I led Edward down the stairs and to the drive. In it stood a silver Z4 with a huge blue ribbon tied from front to back just as the one we'd given him for Christmas had.

"Oh very funny. Give me my own car for my birthday. Oh har har." He laughed.

"Look closer." I told him.

He walked around the front of the car and then peered in the cabin through the driver's window. He scrunched up his face but it still hadn't dawned on him and I began to giggle.

Alice was twittering away and Jasper, standing right beside me, was clutching my elbow and howling with mirth.

Rose, Emmett, Esme and Carlisle all stood in a cluster looking at the three of us as though we'd lost our minds.

Edward threw us a scowl and walked to the back of the car. "I don't get the joke you guys." He threw his hands up in surrender. It was obvious the others didn't get it either.

"What's the registration plate say?" Jasper called.

Edward went back to the front of the car and looked down at the license plate. "EDDIE17. Oh that's charming." He hissed.

Alice let out a loud chortle and Edward looked up at her with wide eyes.

I knew the instant she'd given the game away because Edward began to grin. "Isabella?" He asked walking towards me slowly.

I began to tremble with laughter. I slipped down onto a lower step and with each word I edged further and further along the edge of the house along the driveway. "Well...you see...Alice saw us, um, destroying the other one...sort of like...dead sort of destroyed...as in buckled beyond all recognition...and we all know how much you love this car...so we all got together to buy you another...we thought we should replace it before we broke the old one." I shot off and began to run before I finished the last word knowing he'd give chase.

He did.

As I ducked between the trees opposite the driveway and headed for the dense forest I heard Emmett's loud cry.

"Hey Eddie, you can't make her a hood ornament if you don't take the car with you!"

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoyed Edwards birthday as much as he did ;)**

**I will be updating over the holidays, stay tuned. **


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43 – Gearshift Removal 101

43.

**EPOV**

I half heartedly chased her far into the forest. The further we went the more aroused I got. Once I left behind the thoughts of the family and the quiet calm of the deserted forest settled around me I concentrated on only Bella and the evilness that lurked inside her.

"Let me catch you Isabella, I'll make it worth your while." I laughed into the surrounding trees.

I heard her laugh before I saw her. She'd stopped in the centre of the path, hands at her hips and smiling widely at me. "Oh I see, now I'm expected to just give in, am I?" She threw her head back and laughed loudly. She waggled her finger at me as I approached. "You've led me astray enough times today Edward."

I caught her around her waist and pulled her to the ground with me. I landed on her but knew it would never hurt her. I kissed her thoroughly and held her to the ground with one hand while I cupped her cheek with the other. "There is an evil side to you, isn't there?" I kissed her again and then drew back. "Everyone thinks you are this sweet, innocent little girl but I know better, don't I Isabella?" I deliberately lowered my voice and kissed her more deeply this time. I felt her arms go around me and her tongue tangle with mine. I drew away again and with a deeply satisfied grin I let her go and watched her eyes darken.

"I am an innocent little girl Edward." She pouted sweetly. "It's you who've corrupted me." She teased.

I couldn't help but laugh at that. She may have had a point but I wasn't going to concede it. "I don't think so." I wound my arms around her and held her tightly. "Only a very, very naughty girl could've come up with a gift such as the one that now stands in the driveway." I tossed my head towards the house.

She giggled. "Did you really think we'd given you your own car as a birthday gift?"

"Well what was I supposed to think? I come outside on Christmas night and am presented with a mirror finished silver Z4. It's utterly perfect in every way. Then, six months later my birthday comes around and I'm ushered outside and presented with an identical mirror finished sliver Z4. What was I supposed to think?" I chortled.

"That's a very good point." She kissed me lightly on the point of my chin but kept on. "What did Alice show you to give it away?" She purred.

I couldn't mistake the change in her voice or the flood of warm arousal that came to my nose as she asked. "Ahh, she didn't intend to show me, I don't think. But what I saw looked utterly filthy." I pulled her bottom lip between my teeth and sucked it into my mouth. Her deep groan stirred me thoroughly. I let her go with a pop and grinned down at her. "Which car will we destroy Bella? The old one or the new one?" I asked with a wink.

She sucked in a deep breath and for the millionth time I wished I could read her. "The old one." She giggled. "But only because I like the vanity plate on the new one better."

"Then we'll destroy the new one, that plate deserves it." I growled. "I'm not a teenager anymore Bella, vanity plates like that would make me look like a punk kid spending daddy's money." I leant down and pulled her lip between my teeth again. I let it go to swipe my tongue across it and felt her buck her hips a little under me. I smiled smugly. "I want to break it now." I chuckled.

"Me too, but we can't. It's Nessa's first night home, we should take her, and Seth, to the cottage." She looked disappointed and I smiled smugly at her again.

"Let me take you out tomorrow night, we'll take the Z4." I sniggered.

"On one condition." She hedged.

"And this condition would be what?"

"You find a place for us to destroy the car where there isn't a human being for miles. I mean it too, it's going to be loud and obvious...find the right place Edward." She laughed.

"Done." And then I smothered her mouth with mine.

**BPOV**

Nessa was getting sleepy by the time Edward and I made it back to the big house that night. I felt so guilty for having neglected her all day, and then all night, but everyone said she'd been more than happy spending time with them and then her beloved Seth.

As the four of us were preparing to leave for the cottage I mentioned to the others that we'd see them before school and work in the morning.

A silence came over the room then. They all looked to one another and then back to us. Edward sighed softly beside me.

"What?" I asked feeling apprehensive already.

It was Rosie who stepped forward. "We won't be coming to the cottage in the morning tomorrow Bella. You're a family, we don't want to intrude. School's out in a few days anyway, so as long as you keep bringing her up here at night we'll get our fill of her that way."

I thought on it for a moment before I spoke.

"Look, I appreciate that you are only thinking of us but this is all wrong. We are a family Edward Nessa Seth and me, but so are all of you. You're our family too. I appreciate that you want to give us some space for a bit, and we'll need it if we're going to fix this properly, but I don't want you distancing yourselves from us. So I'll expect you all at normal time and of course we'll still all visit at night. We've got nothing better to do." I laughed and turned to wink at Edward who was stood with his mouth agape. "Which reminds me, Rosie and Em, would you babysit for us at the cottage tomorrow night?"

Rose broke ranks and ran towards me and hugged me tight. "Of course we will. Thank you so much." She whispered into my hair as she kissed my temple.

"Okay, so I guess I'll see you all tomorrow morning. Good night." And with that I turned and took Edward's hand and went through the backdoor.

We ran in silence to the cottage. Seth sniggered at the damaged wall but said nothing. Nessa was so excited to be back in her home she flew down the hall and flung herself onto the little bed. She giggled and laughed as she touched and played with all her toys again.

"We'll have to get her room sorted out fast. She's grown so much." I told Edward who was nodding. I went into her room and began divesting her of her party dress and replacing it with her pyjamas.

"This reminds me, Emmett has a pair of beds ready to come down here tomorrow. So you'll be able to stay with her more often Seth." He told the sleepy boy.

I expected Seth to be thankful for the gesture but instead he was angry. I heard him growl softly and I slipped into a crouch before I had time to think on it. "Hop into bed little one." I kissed her hair and put Frank under her arm and pulled the door slightly closed then went into the living room to find Edward and Seth squaring off.

I could tell it wasn't too heated, Edward was relaxed but shocked at Seth's reaction. Seth was as stiff as a board and had his fists clenched at his sides.

I went to Seth and put a hand on his forearm. He was trembling. "Seth? What is it?" I asked softly.

He shook his head violently from side to side. I turned to Edward, hoping he'd be able to read from Seth what the problem was. "Come for a run, son." Edward spoke very deeply and very slowly, as though there was a slight warning to his words.

Seth nodded and ran out the front door.

Edward came to me and kissed me on the cheek. "We won't be long. Don't worry, he's fine, better than fine. I'll explain when I get back." And then he was gone.

I pulled some blankets from the linen closet and spread them on the sofa in the living room for when Seth returned. I checked on Nessa who was already asleep and then I set about unpacking some of the boxes from the hall. Jasper hadn't been able to bring any of the others so most of my stuff was still in the van in the driveway at the big house, but we could bring those tomorrow. For now I had everything I'd need.

I had a quick shower and changed into some soft sweats and an old shirt of Edward's and took a box of books into the study to replace them onto the shelves.

That's where Edward found me an hour later when he returned with Seth. I'd forgotten about the unpacking and had gotten engrossed in a novel instead. I looked up from the book to see Edward standing in the doorway smiling widely. "What?" I whispered.

"You're so beautiful." He whispered and came to me on the window seat. "Come to bed." He tugged the book out of my hands and then he scooped me up into his arms and carried me to our bed.

He put me on the edge of the bed and I scooted into the centre and slid under the covers. He pulled his clothes off, leaving his boxers on and then he slid in beside me. I couldn't stifle the satisfying sigh I let out as his arms went around me as he pulled me up onto his chest. "It's been so long." I whispered.

"Too long." He agreed. "Welcome home Mrs Cullen."

"Happy birthday Mr Cullen." I whispered against his chest.

"Best birthday ever." He crooned into my hair. "Now, let me tell you about our boy wonder in there and then I intend to make love to you again."

I gasped. He chuckled. "And yet you say it's me that has evil inside." I giggled.

"You do." He kissed me again. "Seth doesn't want us to put a bed in her room for him. He says that's wrong. Well, he says that's okay for now but she's not going to be this little for long and then it will be wrong. Do you believe that? He was ready to phase and rip my head off for suggesting it!"

"Wow." I truly hadn't thought of it that way, that Seth might see it as wrong. "Should we have seen it as wrong Edward? Are we stuffing this up with her?" I wondered aloud.

He began to stroke my shoulder softly. "I don't know. I didn't ever stop to think about it, I just thought it would be a natural progression. He told me that he can protect her just as well from the sofa. He said he didn't want her growing up thinking it was normal to have a teenage boy asleep beside her in her room and I have to say that when he put it like that it made a hell of a lot of sense to me. It sucked to be schooled on parenting from a 15 year old though."

"I believe it. Jesus, this is so hard. How are we supposed to know what's right for her when we barely know what's right for us?" I muttered.

"I think Sam might have had a bit to do with this. He's close to Seth, they talk a lot. He's had a lot more experience with imprinting than I have, he'd have seen something like this before. An infant I mean. We should talk to him." Edward suggested and I nodded against his chest. "But for now there is one more thing I want for my birthday before midnight takes it from me."

He slid his hand up under the hem of my shirt and cupped my breast. "You want more presents? You're so greedy." I giggled softly.

He turned and let me fall to the mattress. With a hand either side of my head he hovered over me menacingly. "I am greedy, so very greedy for your gorgeous body. I know I haven't exactly been a good boy this year, but can I have you once more before it ticks over to tomorrow?" He nodded towards the clock on the bedside cabinet. It read 11:18pm.

I grinned up at him, "Just once?"

He bit his bottom lip between his teeth and let out a slow hiss. "You're so filthy. The devil dressed as an angel." He whispered as he lowered his mouth to mine.

**EPOV**

Wednesday passed as if it was a blur. The family arrived at normal time and then swept Seth away with them to school and Rose went off to work. Bella and I took Nessa to the big house to Esme and then we made several trips to and from the van to the cottage with the small boxes of Bella's belongings.

Once everything was where it was supposed to be we took Nessa into town with us. Bella went to the bank to retrieve her jewellery box and I took Nessa to the grocery store for supplies.

She still ate grapes by the handful and bacon anytime anyone would make it for her, but she was slowly coming around to other things too. Her little friend, Daisy, had a penchant for chocolate cake and Nessa was quite happy to share that from her friends lunchbox at daycare. So I had been sent to buy the ingredients for chocolate cake. I had a list but it was a nightmare all the same. I spent the whole time we were in the store trying to keep my mind from wandering back to the cooking lesson Bella had given me when she'd still been human.

What didn't help were the women in the grocery store! They were positively immoral!

A man with a small child was fair game apparently, especially since I had no wife or obvious girlfriend with me. Women stopped by my shopping cart to coo and fawn over Nessa with the hope that I'd fawn over them. I gave up being polite by the time I'd been accosted by the fourth one and told her gruffly to leave us alone, that I was in a hurry. I vowed to never again shop without Bella, it wasn't safe.

Bella was waiting at the car when we got through with the shopping and Nessa was eager to show her what she'd missed. I cringed when I saw Bella's eyes fly open wide.

"Daddy was nasty to a lady, momma." Nessa dobbed.

"Yes, I can see that he was." Bella giggled. She did Nessa's buckles up and came around the car to the trunk where I was stowing the groceries. She patted me on the ass and then threaded her hands into my hair, pulling my mouth to hers. She kissed me roughly and firmly. "Lucky for daddy he was nasty to the cougar." She giggled then let me go.

"Oh, possessive Bella has come out to play, I like it." I whispered as I grabbed her wrists and held her up against my chest. One of the women who'd approached me was watching from her car, she was cursing that I was quite obviously attached. I bent my head to Bella's and nipped at her bottom lip. "Cougars aren't my type. I like something a little more...lethal." I told her before I kissed her hard on the lips again.

She was panting when I let her go to continue with the food. She laughed lightly and went to sit in the passenger seat to wait for me.

It was going to be a long, long day.

We spent a quiet afternoon ensconced at the cottage. Bella unpacked and Nessa and I played.

Seth, Alice and Jasper came after school let out and they bought with them Nessa's new bed and a futon sofa to replace the one in the living room. Seth thanked me profusely for the gesture and I, in turn, thanked him for making me understand how he felt about sleeping in Nessa's room.

We saw them off just as the sun was setting and by the time Rose and Emmett turned up to babysit Bella and I were both panting messes. The anticipation was killing me and no amount of ribbing from my brother could dampen my desire for what was to come.

"Now, you two have a nice time." Rose ribbed Bella. "Don't let him talk you into doing anything you don't want to do." I saw her wink and Bella wink back. "Oh, and I find, personally, that if you snap the gearshift off _before _you put your legs..."

"ROSE!" I bellowed across their conversation. "Nessa is within earshot." I shot her a scowl and she cringed.

"Oh, right, sorry." She winked at Bella as though she had no intention of finishing her sentence, but I knew better. "Have a good time." She finished with a laugh.

Emmett came out of Nessa's room then and I knew it was my turn to accept some advice. "I'm with Rosie on this one. Snap the gearshift off before, it's easier." He chuckled. "Oh, and make sure you keep a souvenir, nothing worse than dumping the wreck and having nothing to show for it but the love bites and an empty ball sa..."

"EMMETT!" This time it was Rose and Bella who shouted.

"We're going. Against my better judgement I'm leaving my child in your care." I cringed at them both and they had the good grace to look forlorn.

We'd already kissed Nessa goodbye so we just headed on out through the front door. As we began our run to the big house I heard Emmett call after us. "We'll change the sheets this time."

"Oh for fucks sake." Bella hissed as she took my hand and squeezed. "I didn't think to change them after they babysat last time." She actually shuddered at the thought.

**BPOV**

I was so excited by the time we got to the big house I could barely contain myself. I tried, in vain, to convince Edward to ruin the old Z4 and leave the new one intact but he refused, outright.

I watched with some fascination as he drove the new one out the driveway. He was smiling to himself and humming along to some private tune. He kept both his hands on the wheel and his eyes on the road which was very unlike Edward.

I tried to work out where he was taking us but he simply turned onto the highway and headed for Port Angeles. "Do I get a clue at least?" I giggled.

He looked to me but kept his grin in place whilst shaking his head.

I began to get an inkling of where we might be going and it was confirmed when he turned right into Eclipse Industrial Way. I began to giggle and he chuckled to himself a little as well. He pulled up out the front of the vacant lot, his vacant lot for all intents and purposes – bar the handing over of the money of course – and asked me to stay put.

I watched as he leapt from the car and once again broke the newly replaced lock with his fingers, this time he pocketed the lock and swung the two gates back on themselves. Before getting back into the car he stood stock still and looked left and right, probably listening for anyone nearby, then he got into the car and drove it into the lot. Again he leapt from the car and I watched in the side mirror as he reclosed the gates and refastened the lock, I heard the two pieces of metal grind together as he closed them with his fingers. Then he came back to the car and drove towards the trees at the back of the property.

He drove right into the little copse. He went slowly and positioned the car between two trees and then killed the engine. With a low chuckle he got out of the car and then he offered me his hand as I got out. Without a word he pulled me to his chest and kissed me hard, his hands roaming my back, neck and shoulders.

"Please wait there." He told me as he went to the miniscule trunk and took something out and slid it into his pocket. He came back to where I stood and took my hand, tugging it until I followed him further into the trees.

"Where are we going? Why are we leaving the car?" I asked as he pulled me along and we broke into a run.

"Please just come along Isabella." He had his sexy authorative tone on again so I knew I'd get no answer and no joy out of him now. So I ran beside him, my hand in his, as he led us away from the car.

The trees began to thicken as we ran and I knew we were now deep inside the national park. I recalled him telling me it was only a ten minute run to the lake and wondered if that was where he was leading us? If it was that was very strange. We were out here to destroy a car, not swim. I began to smell the water and we slowed a little as we came to the dark murky edge of our Crescent Lake.

He still hadn't said anything other than to follow him so I waited at the edge of the water for him to tell me what was going on. Instead he began to lose his clothing. All of it. He put his wallet, cell phone and keys with his watch on the ground and then shucked his shoes, socks, shirt, jeans and underwear. When he was totally naked he ran into the water and threw himself beneath the surface, coming up in the middle of the lake. Even from where I stood on the shore I could see the gleam of his teeth as he grinned at me. "Come on in Isabella, I promise it's warm." He teased me with our familiar joke.

I looked around and saw nothing and nobody. I knew that once I was in the water nobody would see anything anyway. I didn't like the idea of having to run back to the car soaking wet, but he'd produced a chamois once before and figured there was a good chance that was what he'd collected from the trunk of the car. I shrugged, why not? So I did what he'd done. I slipped my watch off and put it with my phone and wallet on the ground and then put my shoes, skirt and shirt on top of the pile. I slipped my bra off my arms and then my panties off my legs and then I too dove into the warm water.

He met me as I surfaced and held me around the waist. "I love it here." He whispered hoarsely then kissed me softly at the edge of my lips. "I can recall how you looked that first time here." Another soft kiss. "How amazing it was to swim with you naked." A kiss but a little more insistent placed at my ear. "Then once you'd been changed, our first swim here blew my mind." A little nip of his teeth below my ear and a kiss over the wound. "The first swim with our daughter, the daughter you gave me against all odds." He pulled a handful of my hair backwards, exposing my throat fully. "And now, naked and glorious in my arms once again." He significantly, I thought, left out his swim with his daughter the day after I left him. I didn't want to dwell on that either so I concentrated on the spike of pleasure I felt as his teeth nipped along my neck and down to my collarbone.

I clung to him, my arms wound around his shoulders, my head thrown back to allow him access to my flesh. He felt so warm, so flawlessly smooth in the water. We were at home in the water together. Right from the first time, at the little beach, we were destined to be in the water together. "I love it here too." I whispered against his forehead as he devoured my collarbones some more. "I'll never forget the first look at your body I got here." I giggled softly.

His eyes flew to mine. "You'd seen my body before. We'd been in the shower and in the tub at the cabin." He smirked.

"Ah yes, that's true, but I never really looked before we got here." I laughed and he tilted his head to one side as though he didn't understand that. "In the shower, I was so nervous I tried to keep my eyes up." I giggled. "Then, in the tub I couldn't see anything anyway because of the bubbles."

He laughed into my throat sending ripples of a shiver across my skin. "I looked." He laughed again. "Any chance I got, Isabella, I looked."

"Did you?" I was sort of shocked. I always assumed he was a perfect gentleman.

"Yeah, I did." He mumbled as he took the shell of my ear between his lips. "Starting with that first school dance. Your bare shoulders did me in. Your legs under that dress, Jesus what they did to me!" He was kissing me again now, holding me tighter to him. "Then, two days later at the beach, god, it took all I had not to just throw you down and tear that suit off your body." I felt him shudder.

"But you never let on. For ages I thought you didn't see me that way. Remember? I even resorted to asking if you felt that way about me." I asked.

He nodded, "I remember. In the meadow that day. You assumed I'd been with other girls. You thought I had experience where you had none. But you were wrong, weren't you?" His smile lit up his face and as he kissed my lips I smiled too, remembering.

"Yeah, I guess I was. You're a quick learner though, Edward." I giggled against his lips.

"Oh, you think so? I was terrified of you, at first, you know?" He whispered against my ear making me shiver again. "I didn't know if I could resist your blood or your body." He let his tongue trace the curve of my ear and I moaned without being able to stifle it. "Every time you gave a little more of yourself to me I felt like I'd won some sort of cosmic lottery." He bit my earlobe and let his feet slide further apart, bringing me into direct contact with his erection. I moaned, again, loudly. "There, see that, when you moan like that, it goes straight to my balls. I want you Bella." He growled against my throat.

"You know I want you Edward, but I thought we had plans for tonight?" I giggled into his hair.

I felt his laughter begin in his chest, "We do. Maybe we should swim a little? Some healthy competition perhaps?" He pulled away from me slightly and I could see the cheeky grin on his lips.

"Competition? I'm in, but what will I win?"

He laughed then, long and loud. "And what makes you think you'll win?" He chortled.

"I always win." I pouted playfully.

"So far you have, it's true, but I intend to win this time. I'm so confident I will win I'll let you pick the game." He winked and while I didn't know exactly what the trap was I knew I'd just fallen into it.

"Well, we both know I can beat you at swimming, so I pick racing."

"Excellent, a race it is then." He let me go then but I wasn't done.

"What will I win, though?"

"I will win and when I do I'll get to name my prize." He scoffed, flicking water off the end of his fingertips at me.

"A race, to the other side and back to the car. See you there, loser." I turned away from him then thought better of it, with a sly smile I whispered, "When I win I'll insist that you make love to me with your tongue before anything else." I poked my tongue out at his gaping face. And I began to stroke away from him.

**EPOV**

Well fuck me! I didn't want to fucking win now did I?

So I dug my feet into the soft sand and stood my ground. I watched as she swam at lightning speed across the surface of the water towards the other side then she turned and swam right back to where I stood. She stopped her stroke and stood before me, her breasts glistening as the drops of water fell from her erect nipples. I licked my bottom lip and ogled her unashamedly.

"If you lose by default I win two prizes, Edward." She poked her tongue out at me and then she was running out of the water. I watched her scoop up her clothing and then streak through the forest totally naked.

"Jesus Christ." I muttered and made for the shore myself. I stopped only long enough to scoop up my things and then I too was running through the forest. I held my clothes to my groin as I went. There were no thoughts anywhere near us so the risk of being seen or caught was nil, but still I was cautious.

If I couldn't hear Bella then I couldn't hear other shields, either.

She'd put her clothes on the hood of the car but she stood gloriously naked to the side of it herself. Arms folded over her chest, cheeky grin on her lips. I came out of the trees and put my clothes with hers on the hood. I pulled the chamois from the back pocket of my jeans and went to where she stood. I held it between my fingers and offered it to her. She shook her head. "No Edward, you lost, you get to dry the winner."

I closed my eyes and drank all of her in. This confident, sexy, gorgeous creature was giving herself to me, again. "Happy birthday to me." I sang idly as I reached past her and put the chamois on the roof of the car. It was a very nice car, I wasn't going to miss it though. I had another. I pulled her roughly to me and then I put my hands under her arms, lifting her off the ground. She giggled lightly but didn't fight me. I sat her on the hood but not at the front of the car. I had plans for the front of the car. I sat her by the windshield, at the top of the wheel arch and then I grabbed the chamois once again.

I began at her feet. I wiped the water off then replaced it with a kiss.

Her right leg first, up to her mid thigh, then her left leg. The higher I went the more she squirmed. I stood between her legs and put the chamois to her back. I ran it from bottom to top and then up under her hair. I squeezed the little bit of water out of it then ran it over her arms and along under her ribs across her belly. Each time I stopped to wring the water from it I replaced where it had been with soft kisses.

The rest of the droplets of water clinging to her were for me, not for the chamois so I threw it behind me onto the ground. I stepped away a little and I put a hand onto the hollow at her throat and pushed softly. She understood immediately and began to lower herself onto the car. When she was prone I allowed myself half a minute to look over her. She was utterly perfect in every way. Silvery in the moonlight, dripping wet from water and want. I licked a droplet of water from her navel and felt her shift her hips upwards. I smiled to myself. "It's not always about winning Isabella." I growled as I slid my tongue down her belly and across to her right hipbone. I nipped at it, but not hard enough to break the skin. I had plans for my venom too.

I put a hand on either side of her hips and pulled her along the car so her ass was hanging slightly off it. I dug my fingers into her buttocks and held her still. I closed my eyes and drank in her twin scents. Her arousal was so pungent I could feel myself salivating venom. I used my nose to trace a line through the springy curls and felt her stiffen beneath my hands. When she stilled again I released her from my hands and brought them to her lips, I made a single swipe with my tongue and heard her cry out my name. I let her flavour settle on my tongue and then I pushed it to the roof of my mouth, savouring the silky feel of it there, letting it call forth the bulk of my venom. I curled my tongue back onto itself and gathered it on the end. I held her folds apart with my thumbs and let the icy venom fall off my tongue onto her engorged clit.

"Oh god!" She screamed into the silent night.

Her hips rose up off the car and I had to hold her steady using only my chest clamped onto her thighs. "Let me." I growled against her hot sex. I swiped my tongue up between her lips once again and spread my own venom along her slit. She bucked her hips again and I growled 'let me' against her clit. I suckled it into my mouth and ran the flat pad of my tongue along its underside. She groaned and panted, bringing her hands to my head and holding me to her. I sucked her harder then, sucking then releasing her in tandem to the way she tugged on my hair, letting her set her own pace even though it was my mouth bringing her pleasure.

"Oh god...Edward...please...please..." She began to whimper as I let her clit go and buried the tip of my tongue inside her. I used my thumbs to stroke her towards her clit as I rocked myself in and out of her. Her hips rose and fell with my ministrations and her hands pulled my head up and down as she wanted. "Please." She bellowed and I felt her jerk upwards once again.

I knew she needed more before she begged me for it. I trailed my fingers downwards until I had both thumbs at her entrance. I let my tongue withdraw and as I took her clit back into my mouth I plunged both thumbs into her as far as I could make them go.

Her spasms began immediately but I gave her no chance to lose herself in the orgasm. I speared my thumbs in and out of her in a frenzy as she desperately tried to concentrate on the climax. Before it subsided fully I knew I wanted her to go again, on top of the first I wanted her to have her second. "Cum again." I growled then suckled her clit again. I felt her muscles begin to clench and knew I had to do something to tip her over the edge before the first subsided fully. Being very careful I let the tip of my incisor graze the tip of her clit. She bellowed my name at that but when I used my tongue to force venom into the minute wound she screamed incoherently through another orgasm, back to back on the heels of her first.

I let her go then, withdrew both my tongue and thumbs and let her ride it out fully. I lay on her belly and held her as she rocked through it, moaning and panting my name.

I held her for a long time, until her breathing returned to normal and her fingers loosened in my hair. I stroked her belly with my fingers and kissed her softly while she fought for control.

"You win." She mumbled and I chuckled.

"I think we both did." I told her as I lifted my face so I could see her smiling face. "Are you okay? Did that hurt you?" I asked cautiously. I'd never done that before, used my teeth in such a delicate area and despite the fact my brothers told me it was great for the girl, I'd been hesitant.

"No." She whispered. "It didn't hurt." She followed that with a giggle so I knew it had been the complete opposite of pain for her.

"Good. I wasn't sure." I told her honestly.

"God I hope Alice hasn't seen this." She giggled, bringing herself back up to a sitting position with me standing between her knees again.

I cringed knowing Alice had already seen it. It was that part she'd shown me last night when I was trying to work out what the car was for. "She'll always see something Bella, best to ignore it, I do." I told her honestly. I'd long since given up trying to not hear or see things from the family. I knew Alice tried hard not to see us too.

She threaded her fingers back into my hair and held me just inches from her mouth. "I believe I have one more prize to collect?" She asked then crushed her mouth down onto mine. She moaned as her tongue swiped across mine.

I held her hard up against me and ground myself into her without compunction. She could have any prize she cared to name. I drew slightly away from her and smiled, "Name it." I rasped.

She smiled evilly, "I believe that the gearshift needs removing before I can put my legs..." I silenced the rest of that by kissing her hard.

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**A/N: Thank you for reading. If you have enjoyed this chapter please review. It was a lot of fun to write this part, for obvious reasons, so I'd like to know if you enjoyed it too. Thanks so much for reading. **


	44. Chapter 44

**A/N: I don't normally do this, but, this chapter is particulary carnal. If you have particular sensibilities to pointless, relentless, insatiable, needless, hedonistic animalistic sex with Edward, then I suggest you skip this one and just know that they broke car:)**

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* * *

**Chapter 44 – The Demise of EDDIE17

44.

**BPOV**

I melted into his kiss and tasted myself from his lips and tongue. I groaned as it mixed with his venom and mine to create sensory overload in my mouth.

"Get in the car Edward." I growled against his lips when I could, finally, pull myself away from him far enough to be heard.

I felt the smile come across his lips as he pulled away. He left me there and went to the driver's door, pulling it open with such force I heard the metal brackets groan in protest. I slid from the hood and went to the passenger side. As I slide into my seat Edward used his nails to slice open the material of the roof, pulling it back roughly and shoving the bulk of it into the well behind the seats. He still had the grin plastered to his face as he too slid into his seat. "What now?" He asked cheekily.

Seeing as we were already naked there was no need to stand on propriety so I used both hands to tear the gearshift from its base between the seats. It came away surprisingly easily. I flung it out of the car and Edward laughed, loudly.

"I need you to shift down in your seat a little more baby." I told him gruffly. A soft moan escaped his lips as he slid himself down into the soft leather seat. I leaned over towards him and kissed him lightly on his lips. "Put your hands behind your head, Edward." I instructed. He groaned but did as I asked. Once he'd laced his fingers and was reclined suitably I began to work my way down his glorious body with my mouth.

I paid particular attention to the hollow at the base of his throat. He moaned continually as I licked, sucked and kissed him there. I let my hands travel the length of his sternum as I kissed him across each shoulder then down the middle of his torso taking the time to suck each nipple into my mouth in turn. Each time I felt his arms begin to move I growled for him to keep them there. Each time I growled he groaned and put his hands back on his head.

From my position in my own seat I could only cup him with my left hand as I needed my right to brace myself against the console. I gently rolled his balls between my fingers and began to kiss a line from his navel to his length. He hissed each time my tongue flicked across his skin. He knew what I was about to do but he still cried out when I finally took him into my mouth. I smiled around his shaft and waited until he'd calmed before I began to lick the underside of the head as I bobbed up and down.

"Holy hell Bella...that's so good baby..." He crooned as I took more and more of him into my throat.

I squeezed a little tighter with my hand and sucked a little harder and was rewarded with a mighty buck of his hips and a hoarse whimper from his throat.

I circled as much of his width with my fingers as I could and took as much of him into my mouth as I could on each downward stroke and sped the pace just a little. I knew he would be aching to touch me by now but didn't want to break the rhythm to let him know he could take his arms down. As it was it only took another three or four strokes and he wound his hands into my hair anyway.

"God Bella...yes...like that...more teeth...yeah...like that...god baby, so good..." He whimpered as he used my hair to dictate the speed and depth of my strokes. I let him guide me; I let him show me what he needed. It would never hurt me if he pushed me too hard onto him and while I knew it would never hurt him if I bit too hard I did wonder if it might.

Then I thought about how it had felt for him to bite me..._there_...and felt a massive wave of desire flood my centre, coating my thighs as I knelt ass up in the passenger seat.

Trying to be careful and not too obvious I licked my teeth on each upward stroke to bring my venom on. I wanted to make him cum, I wanted him to lose control for me as I always did for him. But I needed to know if that's what he wanted too. How do you stop and ask that?

Gradually I slowed and let my lips slide over his tip one last time. Without looking up at him I whispered, "You need to tell me how far I can go Edward." And then I took him back into my mouth.

He shuddered as I pushed him all the way to the back of my throat. He pinched his fingers against my scalp and pushed my face down harder onto his length. "Go all the way baby...I'll have you half a dozen times before this night is done." He crowed as I gulped against him and pressed my thighs together for some friction.

I was hoping he'd say something like that.

Since I'd taken my mouth off him I'd managed to collect a good amount of venom on my tongue so I tightened my fingers as best I could around his girth, even though I couldn't reach all the way around. I held him still and let my teeth rake up the underside of his shaft. He hissed and bucked his hips as I let the amassed venom skim over the graze.

"Oh fuck...yes...oh fuck...I'm gonna cum...Jesus Christ...how did you...oh fuck Bella...now...yes..." He roared as the vein in the centre of his prick began to throb and pulse.

I swallowed all that he gave me and drank it down hungrily. I used my tongue to rub over the shallow ripple where I'd used my teeth and felt him clench again. His fingers had let go of my hair but they were fists against my head as he rode the orgasm through.

I smiled around his length then let him go. He hissed again when I withdrew both my hand and mouth at the same instant.

I righted myself and sat back down in my own seat. I couldn't look at him. I felt a little nervous, embarrassed and a little guilty for not warning him of what I was going to do.

I let him catch his breath then whispered, "Did that hurt?"

His chuckle said it all. "No Bella, it didn't hurt." He leaned over and drew me to him across what was left of the console. He swiped his tongue across my bottom lip and growled, "I don't think I want to know where you learned to do that though."

"I don't think you do either." I giggled against his lips all the while thinking about the most awkward conversation I'd ever had with my sisters in law. I hope the shudder that rippled across my chest felt like an ordinary one to Edward and not the embarrassment I'd felt at reliving that discussion.

He held my hand in his across the gap between the seats and I felt his trembling slightly. I looked over to him and saw he had his head resting back on the headrest and his eyes closed. He looked so serene. "Come here." He whispered as if he had seen me staring at him. He dropped my hand and with his eyes closed he held his arms out for me.

"That wheel is going to be a problem for me." I laughed.

His eyes shot open and stared at me. "What?"

I pointed to the steering wheel and he grinned. He put both hands on it and threw me a smug smile. His fingers closed around the leather and he buckled it between his fists. Once it was a mangled mess he threw it out of the car onto the ground. "I guess it's no longer a problem." I giggled as I got onto my knees in my seat. I felt his hands close over my hipbones as I came across what was left of the centre console and straddled his thighs. With his door open I could put one foot on the door arch and the other knee rested quite nicely in the space left by the gearshift. I looked down into his smiling face and gigged, "Huh, I guess Rose was right."

"Never tell her that." He laughed.

"I won't, trust me." I giggled in reply.

"I do trust you." He said reaching for my neck with his hand. He let his fingers card through my hair and then he slowly pulled my mouth down onto his. He kissed me deeply and I felt him already hardening again beneath me.

I drew back slightly and smiled down at him. "There's a lot of car left to destroy."

"There is." He looked around himself. "I think we can do better on the interior." He stretched his legs out and pushed. I heard the brackets that held the seat in place give and then we were sliding backwards into the gap at the back of the car. I couldn't help but giggle. I loved it when he was wantonly destructive like that. He put his hands on my hips and held me up a little while he lifted his legs and braced his feet against what was left of the dash where the wheel had once been. He was sitting in a V shape now, his ass in the dent of the seat, his head back against the rest, his feet on the dash and I was effectively cradled in the middle.

"Mmm." I purred and lowered myself onto his chest, palms flat. "It sure is a comfortable car Edward, you sure you want to destroy it?" I giggled.

He wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. "I want to destroy it." He growled. "We're not going home until I've had you in it and on it and it's a twisted piece of metal beyond recognition."

I sighed and squirmed in his lap. He was almost fully hard again now and I began to wonder if it would always be like this for us? "Will you always want me this desperately?" I asked against his lips.

He groaned into my mouth and held me tighter. "Always." He rasped as his lips left mine. "I've always wanted you this desperately and I always will. Forever Bella." He kissed me again then but the intensity had changed. He clung to me, held me as close as he could and still be able to move his lips against mine.

It shifted to fever pitch when he began to lift his hips off the seat and press himself up into me. I was sitting atop him just as I had that night at the drive in movie theatre only this time there was no clothing barrier to stop the sensations. I braced my feet more firmly on the floor of the mangled interior and slid along him. Long and slow. From base to tip I slipped him up between my lips, taking from him and giving him some friction.

**EPOV**

It was just as it had been that night at the movies only this was infinitely better all round. Back then I knew I had to hold back, I knew I had to be tame. Now I could devour her and there was no clothing barrier to stop me. She rode me, sliding along me, spreading her slick wetness along my shaft and driving me towards utter delirium!

She was panting into my mouth and I knew the exact point when she shifted from giving to taking. She ground herself onto me harder and harder, clawing at my hair, biting down on my tongue as I probed it inside her mouth. I let her lips go so she could tell me what she wanted but she was too far gone, too wrapped up in reaching for her release to bother.

"Tell me...tell me...tell me." I begged of her as I gripped her hips and rocked her along my length.

She threw her head back and moaned. "It's not enough...never enough..." She whimpered as she brought her mouth back to mine.

I smiled against her lips and lifted her, bodily, up off me. I waited until she'd taken her own weight on her knees and then I reached down between us and stood my prick up, using my fingers, so she could force it inside herself. I held her though, hovering above me, just long enough for her to reef her lips away from mine and beg me to have her.

"Is this what you want Isabella?" I asked her as I bucked my hips upward and let the head of my cock graze her lips. "Do you want me inside you now baby?" I asked her again.

"Yes Edward...please..." As soon as she'd let the plea escape her lips I used my hands to force her downward onto me. She threw her head back again and screamed her pleasure out around us. It echoed through the forest.

I forced my feet up against the dash roughly and felt it give as the instrument panel exploded outwards. Sharp shards of glass and plastic flew around us but neither of us cared. All that mattered was that she was screaming in ecstasy because I'd impaled her on my cock.

'That's what you wanted, wasn't it baby?' I asked her silently, already knowing the answer because it matched mine.

There was never, and would never be, any feeling equal to that of being buried deep inside my wife.

'_Oh...yes...yes that's what I wanted...I always want you...yes.'_ Her thoughts were long and drawn out as she lifted herself almost all the way off me and then plunged back down again to swallow me. I could hear her nails tearing at the leather on the headrest and smiled.

'That's it baby...wreck this car...rock my world...' I looked up into her eyes and let a smug grin come across my lips at the way she held her lip between her teeth in concentration. 'Get there Bella...you can do it...ride me baby...that's it...harder...' I begged her as she hissed and moaned above me.

As she bobbed and swayed on top of me I slid my tongue out over my teeth and licked at her nipple as it passed by my mouth with each delicious stroke she made. I caught it between my teeth and bit down, hard. I knew it would tip her over and within seconds she was spasming all around me. Her hips bucked and her thighs tensed on either side of mine as her climax crested and fell inside her.

I felt the headrest tear beneath my head and I let out a long satisfied growl against her throat as she collapsed onto me. 'That's it baby...give it to me...god I love you Bella...I love it when you cum...' I told her.

When she'd recovered slightly I put my hands to her shoulders and sat her back up, making me go deeper and her hiss. I smiled triumphantly and she licked her bottom lip cheekily.

"What now?" She asked aloud, just as I had earlier.

"Now you put your hands on the windshield and hold onto your hat baby." I chuckled as I lifted her off me. She moved to the side, back towards the passenger seat and I used my fists to drive the driver's seat back even further. It was lying right down, as far as it was possible for it go. "Come here beautiful." I held my hand out for her and she grinned as she put her hand in mine. I pulled her across and back into what was left of the driving position and she turned her back to me, lifting her glorious ass and standing astride the seat, in what was left of the driver's side floor. She looked for me over her shoulder as I positioned myself behind her. She had her hands braced on the dash but she needed to be more upright before I could get inside her. "Put your hands on the windshield Bella." I told her.

She did and it lifted her sex high enough for me to plunge into her roughly, without warning, making her gasp and hiss.

'_Jesus...yes...that's so good...' _she muttered in her thoughts as I began to thrust into her with abandon.

I held her at her hips and shoved myself into her. I pulled her back onto me at the same time as I thrust upward and with each incredible stroke she whimpered her pleasure both audibly and silently.

I was on my knees on the seats edge so I couldn't go as fast or as hard as I wanted but this position leant itself to depth, rather than speed, anyway.

The windshield surround croaked and creaked with each stroke. It was the weakest point of the car, as it was on any convertible, and I heard the glass begin to whine in protest.

'That glass is about to shatter...when it does you cum for me baby...' I begged her. I wound her hair around my fist and pulled her head back roughly, giving me more leverage to go as deep as possible in the cramped car. 'You shatter when it does Bella...do you hear me...tell me you can...tell me you can cum on my cock...tell me dammit...' I raged in my mind.

"Yes Edward...god yes...a little higher...a little, yes, yes, yes...there...oh god..." She spoke this hoarsely and I knew I had her then. I knew I could make her cum whenever I felt like it by simply raising or lowering myself using my knees on the seat.

I flexed my knees, pushed my hips higher and felt the first clench of her inner muscles. 'Now Bella...crack that glass and then you break apart for me baby...now Bella...now...' I growled in my thoughts.

I watched as she curled her fists along the top rail of the windshield and then heard the loud pop as the inner glass exploded into the cabin on top of us.

She screamed as her climax shook her and I bellowed my own into her hair as I threw myself forward onto her beautifully pale back. "Bella...Bella...Bella...Bella..." I cried over and over as her spasms milked all that I had to give her.

We collapsed like that, her back to my chest, leaning against the ruined dash and what was left of the windshield.

Eventually I pulled us out of the car and laid her down in the grass beside it. I cradled her in my arms and kissed her hair, her cheeks, her eyelids and any exposed piece of flesh I had access to without shifting her from where she rested.

"That was incredible Edward." She whispered eventually.

I kissed her hair, "I totally agree, you are incredible."

She lifted her chin and looked over my shoulder at the car. "We did well." She giggled.

"We're just getting started baby." I chuckled and pulled her up so she was lying across my chest.

Her eyes widened and she smiled cheekily. "Oh really?"

"Yeah." I replied lazily. "Give me a minute and I want you over the trunk." I told her with a wink.

"A minute?" She said sceptically. "Perhaps I'll have you over the trunk Edward, did you ever stop to think of that?" She giggled and waggled her eyebrows at me.

"No, I can't say that I did. I can't even picture how that would work, but I'm willing to give it a go." I laughed. "Oh, the minute is up." I waggled my brows at her and she gasped.

She pursed her lips and furrowed her brows and then she turned her head to look down at my groin. She shuddered then turned back to me, "God Edward, you're like a machine or something." She giggled.

I put my hands into her hair then, pulled her so her lips were only half an inch from mine, "Not a machine, just in love and lust with my beautiful wife." I pulled her lips to mine.

She pushed away a little and stared down at me, "Beautiful." She snorted as though she doubted my claim.

I reached a hand above my head and grabbed a handful of shattered glass. Bringing it forward I sprinkled it back onto the ground beside us, "It's nowhere near as beautiful as your skin in the sun." I told her. "You're more dazzling than a million diamonds on a bed of fresh snow Bella. You're all I can think about. Everything about you draws me in."

She smiled, "You're biased." She swatted at my chest with her fingertips as though she was embarrassed by my declarations.

"No, I'm truthful." I told her firmly, pulling her back down and kissing her softly on her swollen lips. "I won't ever lie to you again Bella, tell me you believe that." I begged as I folded her into my arms again.

She sighed and tightened her grip on my forearms. "I believe it Edward, I truly do." She kissed the back of my hand and rolled my wedding ring around my finger as I did to hers so often.

**BPOV**

The mood had shifted yet again. Where we had been playful, almost teasing a few moments before we were now needy, passionate and loving once again.

I kissed the back of his hand again and watched his beautiful face from under my lashes. Even that simple gesture, kissing his hand, made him close his eyes and suck in a breath. It floored me that I had this kind of effect on such an amazing man.

I held his hand in mine and kissed it again, nipping at his knuckles and making him moan softly. I trailed my kisses up his wrist to the crook of his elbow, holding his arm above his body as I went. I massaged his bicep with my fingers and trailed my lips along his arm until I found the hollow where his shoulder met his neck. He growled when I kissed there, sucking his skin into my mouth.

I slid sideways, off his chest and settled myself beside him on the grass, kneeling over him. I put my mouth back to his flesh, just under his jaw, and kissed him slowly, using my tongue to trace circles over his slight stubble. He moaned with each swipe of my tongue. I kissed my way to his ear and blew my cold breath into it. "You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen Edward." I told him huskily. I kissed the shell of his ear and felt his arms stiffen and grab for me. "In sunlight or not you take my breath away." I moved my hands into his hair and pressed the tips of my fingers into his scalp, rubbing lazily. Still with my lips to his ear I whispered, "I've never felt so perfect as I do when I'm with you." I peppered his neck and throat with more kisses but always made my way back to his ear. "Everything about you invites me in." I pressed my fingers to his scalp harder and kissed a little more aggressively down his throat. "Your scent...it's like I need it to exist...without it I ache..." I told him before plunging my tongue into his ear once again. I cradled his head in my hands and held him still while I raked my teeth over his throat. "Your face...ahhh...when I look at you I feel desire like I've never experienced before. I didn't understand it at first, it scared me at first." I admitted as I let my lips caress the hollow beneath his bottom lip. With a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth I admitted a little more. "I worried, for a long time, that I wanted you far more than you wanted me." I giggled lightly and felt him shiver. His hands were tightening on my upper arms the more I said, the more insistent my kisses became. Still I held his head in my hands. "I went to bed at night so tense, so anxious, so full of lust for you." At the memory I sighed myself, right into his mouth as it hung slightly open for me to kiss. I did. Ever so lightly, I kissed his top lip. "I never once thought you'd even see me, plain Bella Swan. I never once thought you could ever feel one hundredth of the passion I felt for you." I allowed myself the pleasure of running my tongue over his bottom lip and moaned when he did. "I'd have died happy the night of the dance...just having gotten to go with you, to sit by you under that tree...but when you kissed me...oh god, Edward...when you kissed me..." I was breathing so heavily, panting against his lips as I ran my mind back over those first few moments of stolen bliss under that tree. Our first kiss. In many ways our first touches although I already knew the prickle of electricity that sparked between us when we touched even inadvertently.

I shifted higher onto my knees and brought my hands out from under his head to cup his cheeks. I stared down into his hooded, half closed eyes. "Do you remember it Edward? That first kiss? You ran your knuckles up my arm, made circles on my palm, ran your thumb over my jaw, you turned me to jelly in your arms." I told him as I lowered my lips to his. I kissed him very softly, letting just the merest hint of my lips touch his as though I were tickling him. He was writing beneath me and I knew he was fighting the urge to wrest control of this situation back from me. The vampire inside my beautiful boy was wanting out. "Do you remember it Edward?" I asked again.

"I remember it Bella, god, how could I not?" He growled. He put his hands into my hair and pulled my lips onto his. He kissed me long and hard, directly oppositional to the way I'd kissed him. "God you were so beautiful, so warm, and so soft, so giving." He was losing himself, no longer able to keep himself in check. I had to smile. I loved him best like this, unable to control himself. He closed his eyes, "I remember every detail of it Bella. It was perfection. You were perfection." He opened his eyes and I stared down at him, a slight smile on my lips.

"It was, it always was perfect. It still is. It will always be, Edward. We were made for one another. No other, not ever, you're mine." I growled, letting my vampire out to play a little too.

His smile was beatific as he used his hands to hold me away while he got to his feet. He drew me up to him and crushed me against his chest. He kissed me long and hard and then he was carrying me to the back of the car. His hadn't been an idle threat, he wanted me up against the trunk, and was going to have me there.

He sat me on it, squarely, my butt sitting on the red tail lamp that ran across the lid of the trunk. With a smug smile he squared his shoulders and pushed me backwards. "And _this_ is the real reason we are destroying the new one Isabella." He laughed. "My Z4 has an air foil, I can't fuck you on an air foil." He raised his eyebrows then slid his thumb across my clit.

"Oh god!" I screamed into the night as I let myself fall fully back onto the car. I felt him lean up against me, sliding his tip across my folds. I cried out again. He raked his thumb once more across my clit and with a mighty shove he was inside me. I screamed his name into the surrounding trees as the first tremor of release ran through me. It wouldn't take me long to reach it fully, not at this angle anyway. He knew it too. He hooked his hands under me and raised my knees. He held them, hooked over his forearms, as he trust into me again and again.

He set an impossible rhythm. He went so fast, so deeply, that I had no time to prepare myself for the onslaught of pleasure at my centre. With a single stroke of his thumb across my swollen nub I came, my body lurching and jerking in spasm as it crashed through me. I opened my eyes in time to see him lick his bottom lip and smile smugly.

'_That's it baby...that's it...call my name as you cum...' _His thoughts were as smug as his body language as he gave me the orgasm I sought. I wanted to fight him. I wanted to fight the sensations flooding both my body and my mind and wipe that smugness off his gorgeous face. But I was powerless beneath him. _'You're not powerless Bella...never powerless...' _He told me as he slowed his thrusts and cradled me in his arms, my legs flopping down the back of the car uselessly as the last of my release retreated.

He kissed my throat and stroked my hair. "Sorry baby." He mumbled against my superheated skin. "I don't mean to be so smug."

"Yes you do." I mumbled in return. I kissed his hair and sat up a little on my elbows. "And you don't need to apologize. It's a good kind of powerless." I giggled.

He scoffed and stood back up. He ran a hand down my throat, between my breasts and to where we were joined. He stroked us both with his fingertips, making me moan. "You are never powerless, I don't want you to ever feel that way." He said aloud. _'It's me that is powerless over you, baby.'_ He began to thrust in and out of me again and I sighed with the sheer pleasure of it. '_I cannot control myself with you...I have no resolve...my body refuses even when my brain says stop...your body drives me...' _He whimpered in his brain as he sped his movements again. '_This...between us...this fever...it's you who drives it when you give yourself to me...I am yours to do with as you please.'_ He was shouting in his thoughts as he once again slid his hands under me and pulled me to him roughly.

'Yes...like that...you'll always have me baby...I'll always give myself to you...only you.' I told him via our connection.

He let his head fall back as he slid into me with real abandon. A guttural snarl came from his lips as the first of the light casings exploded outwards on the back of the car. He drove himself into me even harder after that, as though the destruction of the car was somehow tied up with his pleasure.

'_It is Bella... it's all connected...it is...' _He cried in his thoughts. _'We'll destroy this car because nothing can destroy us...you're mine...you're fucking mine...forever...'_

'Yes...yes...forever baby...oh god Edward...yes...' I began to pant as the boiling feeling in my belly began again. I grasped for his forearms and dug my nails into him as he pumped faster and faster.

The trunk lid began to whine and then a loud crackling sound came from under me as it imploded on itself, shattering the light casing under my ass and showering us both with a fine mist of bright red diamond shards.

Edward never stopped, not for a second. If anything the more the car buckled and groaned the harder he went towards his release.

His brow furrowed and his thoughts began to beg me to follow. He begged me to cum with him, begged me to be his, and begged me to tell him I was.

My own climax erupted through me as his burst forth from within him.

"MINE!" I screamed into his gasping mouth as he pulled me to him and covered my face with kisses as he came deep inside me.

"Yes, mine." He agreed softly as he collapsed onto my chest on the caved in trunk lid.

**EPOV**

I needed a little longer to recover after that time so I helped her off the trunk of the car and together we ran to the lake for a calming swim and a bit of a wash.

She had glass shards in her hair, silver paint dust up her back and she was covered in my venom from head to toe. She shimmered in the moonlight with it, its silvery sheen making her even more ethereally beautiful than ever.

She washed the grass and dirt out of my hair and ran her little hands and fingers over me, washing her venom from my skin.

I ran my fingers through her soaking wet hair and pulled the last of the light casing pieces from it. I used my hands to scoop up the warm lake water to wash my venom off her shoulders, her back, and her upper arms. I slid a hand between her legs and washed my seed from her carefully. All the time she clung to me, resting her head in the crook of my neck and shoulder.

We whispered our love into each other's mouths and ears and bobbed up and down in the eternally calm waters as though we were the only two creatures on the planet. In that moment we were.

"I love you Edward." She whispered against my throat. "I'm so sorry I left."

"Shhh, it's done now." I told her, holding her close. "I can't say I enjoyed it, but I understand it, love."

"Do you forgive me then?" She asked the question I'd never contemplated before. That she'd need my forgiveness had never crossed my mind.

"There's nothing to forgive." I told her honestly. "You did what you had to do, just as I thought I had. One of us was wrong and I accept the consequences of that. Please, don't ask my forgiveness, there is nothing to forgive." I kissed her on her cheek and heard her sigh.

"As you wish." She whispered. I had to chuckle. "What's so funny?"

"You." I kissed her again. "You're nineteen years old and you speak as though you were born in my time." I chuckled again.

"Must have been hanging around with Edward 1.0." She giggled.

"He'd never have wrecked that car." I countered.

"True. But, I wonder if he'd have wanted to and just not been able to go through with it?" She mused.

"No, Edward 1.0 would have thought it crass and undignified. This Edward still thinks it undignified but he's having a hell of a time doing it anyway." I bit her just below her ear and heard her gasp. "In fact, Edward 2.0 as I believe you call me now, thinks there is still more to do to it. He has one more thing he wants to do to it, and to you Isabella." I growled this into her ear and felt her shudder. "God your every move turns me on so." I growled again and again she shuddered as if to punctuate my point. My point was very fast making itself known between us so I grabbed her around the waist and took her with me, bodily, out of the water.

I kept hold of her and flung her onto my back, as I had on our very first date, and I ran with her back to where the car stood. It looked rather sad now with its windshield smashed in and its normally beautiful dash hollow and dented. No steering wheel and no gearshift. The front seats were ruined and were now sitting in the back. The trunk lid was sunken and not a single light on the rear of the car was intact.

The hood, however, was far too pristine even for my liking. I stood at the front of the car and brought my wife around, over my shoulders and into my arms. I set her on the hood and watched her scoot backwards until she was lying prone on it. Rivulets of water ran off her body and dripped off the front of the hood.

I smiled when she did. I didn't need to be inside her to know what she was thinking.

"At the same time." I said and she nodded.

"_Hood ornament." _We both said at the exact same moment.

She laughed and I echoed it.

"Lie still." I winked at her and went to the driver's side. I bent and slit the tyre with my nail. The air came out with a satisfying hiss. I did the same to the other three tyres and then I was once again between her knees at the front of the car. She was giggling softly. I quirked an eyebrow, "Leverage." I told her and then bent my head to her breast.

She gasped when I took her right nipple between my teeth and bit down. She was going to be covered in silvery crescent marks for days after this. I probably would be too, come to think of it. I could still feel the feint sting of her venom on my throat where she'd bitten me last. They wouldn't take long to fade but they'd stay long enough for the boys to rib me and the girls to raise their eyes at me.

I rolled her delicious nipple between my thumb and forefinger and turned my attentions to her tattoo. I licked over it lovingly allowing my tongue to trace each letter of my name in turn.

"Does that still turn you on?" She whispered.

I groaned in response and sunk my teeth into her nipple once again. After she'd finished hissing from the cold sting of my venom I turned my face to hers and with a smug smile I whispered my answer. "Everything about you turns me on, but that, my name on your skin for all eternity, feels like it turns me inside out I love it so much."

She put her fingers into my hair then and pulled me down onto her breast harder. I was ready to do some real damage to this car so I extracted myself from her hands and tore my mouth from her breast. I allowed a smile to cross my lips and as I positioned myself at her entrance I put my palms flat on the hood of the car.

I looked into her eyes and silently begged for permission. I didn't need it but knew she wanted to give it. "Please Edward, take me." She whimpered as I pushed minutely forward, teasing her with the head of my heated shaft.

I nodded a little in response and as I pushed forward to the hilt I slammed my hands down onto the hood. Bella cried out as I speared into her and I roared as I allowed my true destructive nature to overtake me. My fists buckled the hood inwards, almost enclosing Bella's shoulders in a deep ridge that ran from the window washer casing to her hips.

I smiled to myself as I surveyed this first bit of damage. Bella bucked her hips upwards and clutched at my shoulders with her nails so I knew it hadn't bothered her that I'd been so wantonly destructive so close to her. As she arched her back I slid an arm beneath her and held her hips higher, allowing me to plunge into her as deeply as I could go. She ground her hips into me and I pounded for all I was worth.

'_Oh god...oh god...oh god...so good baby...so good...' _She chanted in her thoughts as I pushed her deeper and deeper into the groove in the hood.

The metal creaked and groaned in protest and as I slammed myself into her in a particularly brutal way I heard the headlights cave in. Another spray of glass and light casing floated to the ground at my feet as I began to feel her inner muscles spasming. 'That's it baby...cum for me...yeah...let's wreck this fucker...' I crowed as I bucked into her wildly.

I could feel the grill at the front of the car begin to cave in as I used my knees to push harder and harder into her satiny warm depths. I pushed harder again and when the twin grills finally gave way and spewed forth a shower of razor sharp metal shards Bella reached her climax with me inside her.

"Edward...Edward...Edward...oh my god...again...I...oh god...again...I'm...Edward..." Her thoughts were so ragged they didn't even begin to resemble the words tumbling from her swollen lips.

I looked down at her in wonder as she came undone for me again. There was nothing, not a damn thing on this earth, to rival the feeling I got from giving this to her. That she could take that much pleasure from my body, that she could use my hard length to reach for an orgasm that made her incoherent in thought and speech, damn there was nothing like it and there never would be.

When her trembling subsided a little I began to rock into her again. Silently I told her that when she got there this time I'd try to go with her. I told her to put her arms out to the sides and grab a hold of the slight curve of the wheel arches and that when she felt her climax begin she should pull inwards. I wanted to see if we could fold this car in half with our passion.

Her smug grin told me we could.

So it was, me buried deep inside my wife and pistoning away like man possessed, Bella with her arms outstretched and clutching at the screaming metal. I had my toes dug into the ground as the steel rims of the useless tyres ground into the earth, futilely trying to keep the car in one place. With each delicious stroke I went harder, faster, deeper. With each thrust Bella cried out louder, filthier things. With each plunge the car broke just a little bit more.

The radiator was next to give out and it buckled in on itself with a loud hiss as the water inside it was forced out. The car seemed to shudder as Bella did underneath me. It was all too much for me. The past month had been a lesson in control and I was ready to surrender whatever I had left of it.

I felt it begin in my stomach. A clawing fire. It ignited and sped its way into my balls and into my prick as I drove myself on into Bella with abandon. She thrashed her head from side to side and the metal of my once glorious car screamed in protest as its welds began to give way under us.

"I'm close Bella...you have to cum with me baby..." I begged as I tried in vain to stave off the pulsating fire in my groin.

"Yes...yes...take me with you...Edward...Edward...yes..." Bella agreed out loud.

I pulled her higher onto me using her hips and used my knees to push her harder. She gasped, her eyes flying open wide as she tipped over the edge and barrelled headlong into her last orgasm.

I watched her beautiful face contort as it took her. She had the presence of mind to contract her arms and as the chassis of the car gave way with a mighty squeal I let myself have the release I'd been holding off.

Amid the screeching of metal, the whimpering of my wife and my roaring into the night I collapsed onto Bella's heaving chest and together we fell closer to the ground as the car broke apart.

'_I love you...I love you...I love you...' _Bella chanted in her brain as we clutched each other tightly.

'I love you...I love you...I fucking love you...' I replied as I gave one last buck into her.

The last sound was a soft clink as the license plate fell off and landed on the top of my right foot.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed reading this one as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Things will get decidedly heavy from here on in. Gone are the days of hedonistic abandon for these two I'm afraid. From here on in it's angst, fear and fight. Most of you will enjoy that anyway ;) Please review. **


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45 – House of Cards

45.

**BPOV**

If asked to pinpoint the exact moment our carefully constructed – and protected – house of cards came tumbling down it would be easy.

The instant the crystal hit the tiles in the kitchen was that moment. From then on in our lives had been in constant limbo. I'd never seen a vampire drop something before. I'd seen plenty of them catch things that had fallen, but I'd never witnessed one drop something.

That's why it shocked us all so much when Alice dropped the massive vase. Nessa screamed in fright and Edward leapt from his position on the sofa and slipped into his crouch before the first peal of Nessa's wail rent the air. He flung his arms out to the sides as if to shield both Nessa and I from whatever the threat might be.

I remember blinking hard, trying to work out why there were diamond shards of glass skidding across the tiles and out onto the timber floor of the living room. I turned, with all of the family, towards the kitchen in time to see Alice' look of abject horror. She stood facing the archway through to where we sat, her hands still clutching where the vase had just seconds ago been.

She blinked once then crumpled to the floor amongst the glass.

Esme gasped. Rose and Emmett flew out of their seats and came to stand on either side of her and Jasper; I'll never forget Jasper's reaction.

My empath brother folded in on himself on the ottoman and put his head into his hands. An inhuman cry of such magnitude came out of his throat I thought for a split second about covering Nessa's ears in case her eardrums burst. Whatever had happened to Alice had just hit Jasper's sensibilities too, whatever she was feeling he was now too.

"Alice?" Carlisle asked tentatively. He had stood too, and he had slipped into a defensive crouch too, but his face was one of concern, not fear, unlike Edward's.

Edward flew to her and scooped her up using her shoulders. I could see the force with which he gripped her, his knuckles dug into the flesh at her arms. As he spoke venom flew from his lips in a wispy, foaming spray. "When?" He snarled into her stricken face.

Whatever had happened he'd seen in her thoughts, or her vision.

She crumpled again, seeming to lose her balance and Jasper cried out again. Edward held her steady, caressed her arms instead of gripped them and she seemed to calm a little, she blinked up into his face and grimaced.

Nessa burrowed into my side and began to sob. I wrapped my arms around her. I thought about taking her away, up to our suite, back to the cottage, but I was struck dumb. I was rooted to the spot. I had to know what had happened. I had to know what Alice had seen.

Deep in my belly I knew, though. Before she even said it, I knew.

The others would recount the same ominous feeling in the days to come. That they too knew what she was going to say.

It was as if it was slow motion that she made the sounds and shapes with her mouth to confirm it.

"They're coming. All of them. The wives too."

She fell against Edward then and as he caught her the six of us gasped in shock.

"When?" Edward asked again, more quietly this time.

"A month. Oh god, Edward, they're coming for them and then for us." She sobbed into his chest as his arms wrapped around her and held her tightly.

I tried to take it all in, that the Romanians had decided to come for my daughter and for Seth, and for some reason, they were coming for us too now. Guilt by association. I looked to Edward and was about to ask why us, why them, why now when someone grabbed my hand.

I startled when I was touched. I leapt to my feet, dislodging Nessa from my side and making her cry in alarm. I turned to see who'd touched me and saw Carlisle at the back of the sofa, his hand still where it had been as he'd reached for me.

I looked around me, having a little trouble processing the scene.

Rose and Emmett were in a tight embrace. Esme held Jasper in her arms, crooning to him softly that everything would be alright, to hold on, to run if he needed away from these intense feelings and emotions. Edward still held Alice though his eyes were on me now. Nessa flopped back against the sofa and sniffled. Carlisle still stood with his hand outstretched.

All I could do was take what was offered. I reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze then let him go and scooped up my daughter. I held her firmly against me and drank in her scent. "Shh, everything is okay. It's okay darling. Aunty Alice just got a fright from the glass falling, that's all. Shhh." I stroked her hair and she calmed a little.

Carlisle spoke then, saying what I'd wager every single one of us had been thinking. "Why now Alice, can you see? It's been two years, why now?"

Everyone turned to Alice and Edward let her go enough that she could lift her face in our direction and speak. "They've collected some talent, garnered enough support." She buried her nose back into Edward's throat and I longed to do the same. "I can't see the outcome because of the wolves Carlisle, I can't see what happens." She wailed shrilly.

Edward turned them both so that he was looking over Alice' shoulder to where I stood with our daughter. "Isabella, the Romanians are coming." He said quietly as if he still required full disclosure after all these years.

I nodded once. "Then we'll be ready." I announced as if the decision was mine.

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to me. I nodded once and then they all followed suit. We'd be ready and we'd fight.

The two years prior to Alice' vision had been full for the Cullen coven and the Cullen family.

In the days after I'd returned to Edward we'd settled back into family life and had been given a wide berth by the extended family even though I insisted it wasn't necessary. I think none of them wanted a repeat of the months of agony apart, so they gave us some space to get to know each other again.

It had never once been discussed, my having left, and both Nessa and I returned to the family as though it had never happened.

Three days after the poor Z4 suffered its very inglorious demise Jasper and Alice graduated high school, again. Edward and I went to watch, mainly to see our friends graduate, but also to receive our diplomas even though we didn't get to walk across the stage and receive them from the principal ourselves. Ours were handed to us after the ceremony seeing as we'd not actually attended for most of that year anyway. I was still proud to have done it, without cheating.

We both clapped loudly when Angela and Ben collected their certificates and both laughed loudly when Ben threw Newton the bird from the podium during his valedictory speech.

Edward said the principal was not happy to see either of us. Edward said he'd earmarked as trouble and he'd decided I was guilty by association. He still hadn't made the appointment with Carlisle to discuss some time off.

We attended an after party for a few hours but had to cry off drinking ourselves into oblivion with the other graduates, citing the need to go home to our daughter. It was as good an excuse as any even though we had no intention of going home to Nessa, who was staying with Renee and Charlie anyway. Instead we'd gone to the meadow and spent hours making love in the wildflowers. We knew no human would've been dumb enough to be out hiking in the middle of the night so we enjoyed ourselves quite thoroughly.

Three weeks after graduation Edward settled on his plot of land for the school. The owner was presented with his cash and the rather pissed off agent watched Edward hand it over with barely concealed envy.

The instant the ink was dry on the title three things happened.

Edward phoned a car carrier to remove the wreck of the Z4. Emmett laughed for hours about that.

Secondly, the contractor broke ground on the site.

And thirdly, Edward began his business management courses online. He was going to have to travel to Seattle twice a year to sit exams but most of his courses could be conducted via the internet. The small parts that couldn't, other than the exams, he could do at the Peninsula College in Forks where Emmett was studying construction.

I was going to wait a little longer before enrolling in photography courses. With Edward studying and busy with the details of getting the school constructed we thought it best that at least one of us was able to devote ourselves entirely to Nessa.

All the Cullen birthdays seemed to crash down on us then. They were all so closely packed together into those few months in the middle of the year. By the time my birthday came around on September 13th almost all the others had had a turn. They didn't really celebrate birthdays too much, the novelty kind of wore off after fifty years, so I was told. But they made a big deal of mine, my first as a vampire. Of course I'd never age again but I was now officially 19 even though I felt no different.

Edward went all out and we flew to Rio then on to Isle Esme for a week's bliss by ourselves. We missed Nessa terribly but the time alone was heavenly. We returned more in love than ever and very, very pleased to see our fast growing beauty.

In late September that first year Alice and Jasper set off to Milan for fashion week. Edward said Jasper was hoping, right to the last, that one of us girls would volunteer to go with her, but his hopes were dashed and we saw them off at the airport with a wave and a few shouts of encouragement for Jasper to just grin and bear it.

In the October Carlisle finally got to go to flight school. He'd put it off twice already. Once because we'd had the threat of the Romanians upon us at its height in the February and then again in the June because Edward and I had been separated. So he was doubly eager to go when it finally came around again.

Esme missed him terribly while he was away. Like Alice had been in the days that I was being kept in the dark Esme seemed to be depressed and I wondered if that's how I'd seemed while I'd been separated from Edward? I didn't know and was loathe to ask anyone. It was still never talked about or even mentioned.

I did my best to keep Esme amused and found that the only cure for her lonely heart those two long weeks was Nessa. Nessa kept the spark alive in Esme's eyes. At nearly three – even though she was actually only ten months old – Nessa was a bundle of energy and excitement. The two of them spent hours swimming in the pool house or enclosed in Esme's studio up high in the big house. They cooked, cleaned, shopped, sang and held long and complicated discussions in Welsh, Dutch and Swedish. Many nights during those two weeks Nessa slept with Esme in hers and Carlisle's bed. Nessa never asked and Esme never talked to the little girl about it either, as far as I was aware. I think Nessa just sensed that Esme was lonely and sad and took it upon herself to nurse her grandmother through it. It was both lovely and heart warming to see.

To say that Carlisle's return was greeted with some fanfare was an understatement. He and Esme swanned off to Paris for a week's holiday and none of us heard a word from them until the second the Mercedes hit the driveway the day they came home.

Needless to say the natural equilibrium of the house was returned after that.

All through that winter construction at the school was full steam ahead. Emmett and Edward spent hours poring over plans and sketches, ideas and strategies to get it built properly and fast. Interest in the project was growing and Esme and I had a hard time sorting through the applications and submissions despite the fact that there was still no firm opening date to speak of. News travelled fast in education circles, it seemed.

The dining room at the big house was often spread with plans, blueprints and stacks of documents needing one or other signature. We went so many times to the site to walk the spaces that were fast taking shape. It was amazing to see what money could achieve. In the six months since I'd gone home the plans had been approved, a contractor chosen, planning permission sought and granted, foundations dug and poured and by the time Christmas was but a few days off the first hammers were swung to erect what would be the administration block.

All through December Edward and I went back and forth to Seattle to meet with community groups, children's charities, teachers and other specialist programs in the area. Support for Edward's school grew exponentially until we started having to turn down donations of equipment because we simply couldn't house any more.

Alice and Jasper chose the same route as Edward to get their teaching degrees and enrolled in hybrid courses via the internet. They too would head off to Seattle twice a year for exams although they'd managed to have their prior credentials recognised – Jasper already had a history degree and another in computing from a university in Texas, Alice had a degree in design and technology herself – so they only needed to complete the actual teaching part of the courses.

Rose chose to stay at the garage. She loved it there and she and Sam turned it into a thriving business. Come January they had plans to build another workshop at the back of the property and specialise in custom detailing.

We spent Christmas Eve with the pack on the Reservation. We'd all attended Sam and Emily's wedding back in August and were pleasantly surprised by their announcement that they were expecting a baby. The whole Rez seemed to buzz with the knowledge that the pack leader would soon be a father.

Renesmee loved Christmas and all that it entailed. She chose gifts for everyone in the family and took great care to wrap them herself. She wrote the accompanying cards in a beautiful script not unlike her fathers.

We gave her a new charm for her bracelet – a miniature crescent moon like mine, to symbolise her beloved Crescent Lake. Seth made her a carving of a wolf and he clipped it onto her bracelet on Christmas Eve as we sat around the bonfire. Edward held me tightly to him as we watched them, our little girl tucked into the crook of the arm of the bronze brown boy she loved.

The usual joke gifts were given again that year, although it was done well after Nessa went to bed. Charlie and Renee outdid themselves again and came up with two of the most offensive gifts the Cullen's had ever seen, or so I'm told. I found it hard to believe that anyone could shock Emmett, but Charlie managed it.

Edward and I retreated to the cottage with Renesmee on Boxing Day and we spent a leisurely time there. Seth joined us at dinner time and he slept over, on the futon, making Nessa happiest of all.

For Christmas Carlisle switched her Cullen crest hairclips for a signet ring. It was beautiful. A miniature Cullen crest sat on the top of a delicate gold band that she wore with pride, showing anyone who stopped by her long enough, including the children at daycare.

She loved it there too. Twice a week, for three hours of a morning, she went to Renee and Sue's daycare centre. Sue Clearwater had started there in September when Seth returned for the new school year. Together they made it a great place. The children all adored them and there was a waiting list a mile long for parents to get their kids into the pre-school program.

As Christmas melded into the New Year Edward and I once again stole away for a few days, but this time we went to the cabin to celebrate our first wedding anniversary. We lazed in the sun, swam night and day and made love almost constantly for four days. That time Nessa stayed with the family in the big house because Charlie and Renee had booked themselves a trip to Vegas.

Edward refused to tell me prior to them leaving whether they were sneaking off to get married, but I think I always knew they were. Her divorce from Phil had been made legal on December first so there was nothing stopping them from doing it and I knew neither of them would want the fuss of a ceremony. So when they returned, the day after Edward and I returned from our second honeymoon, Renee was sporting a lovely band of white diamonds on her ring finger. I was so happy that she was once again Mrs Swan.

Renesmee's first birthday turned from a quiet family affair into a massive international celebration as all our friends and extended family flew in to see the popular little girl.

All the Irish, the European nomads, the Italians and the four women from the Denali coven came to wish her well on her big day. Eleazar was conspicuous by his absence and Edward outright refused to hear his name spoken in our home. I didn't know then about their last conversation, that Edward had threatened Eleazar, and when Carmen told me of it I was very angry at Edward. For the first time since our marriage we'd had to agree to disagree. He would not budge, not an inch, and to Edward, Eleazar was now persona non grata. Nobody had ever known Edward to hold such a vehement grudge against anyone – other than Mike Newton, but we all agreed that he had probably deserved Edward's ire over the years. I did my best to get Edward to relent, seeing how it hurt Carmen to be apart from her mate, but he would not hear it. He was his usual kind and compassionate self towards Carmen but would not shift his opinion of Eleazar.

We had messages and gifts from all the other vampires we knew, and some I didn't know too, for Renesmee's first birthday.

She was the centre of attention again, just as she had been on her birth and her christening and she lapped up every minute of it.

She was showered with gifts of every variety and her room was soon overflowing with toys, games, books and jewellery.

We added to her charm bracelet a tiny gold R and Carlisle and Esme gave her a gold identity bracelet with her name engraved on its flattened surface. She treasured them both but nowhere near as much as she treasured the faith bracelet Seth gave her.

It was made from fine gold threads interwoven with glass and crystal beads and Sam told us Seth had spent months making it for her. All the imprinted women of the tribe wore them and they were always given as a sign of the givers faith in the union, the unbreakable bond between the two parties. Nessa never took it off, ever. Seth promised her, more than once when she got worried, that should she ever outgrow it he'd weave new pieces until it fit again.

That year saw new portraits being hung on Esme's walls as Nessa grew and grew. I took copious photos, almost daily some weeks, as she changed from toddler to little girl seemingly overnight.

When the summer came she was eighteen months old but four and a half years old in human terms and stirrings were being made about her readiness for elementary school. I fought it for as long as I could but after speaking with Nathaniel and looking over endless developmental charts left lying around – not altogether subtly – by Carlisle, it was decided she could attend with her peers.

We worried about this not least because some of our human friends knew she should only be eighteen months old. So we sent her to a public school in Port Angeles where nobody knew us, or her.

Of course she was going to grow a lot faster than them, three times faster, so we knew it would be short lived for her. She knew too and accepted it with good grace and the promise that as soon as her daddy's school was up and running she would attend there.

While Edward was very busy with his studies and his school construction we did find time to be alone. We had a regular, every week, standing date night and it became almost expected that Emmett and Rosie would arrive at the cottage at six to babysit. If for any reason we had to cancel, and we made sure that was rare, another date was set or else we encountered two very bolshie vampires and one very unimpressed half human girl.

Nessa began to spend more time at the Rez as the year marched ahead. By Edward's birthday she was sitting nightly with Seth around the tribal council learning all she could about the tribe, its traditions and its people. She was loved on the Reservation. Everyone looked out for her. All the little children came out to play with her whenever she was there and the pack hovered like a protective cloak if she was outside, ever.

Charlie began to take Nessa to ball games that summer. They would travel together to Port Angeles to the bigger high schools and watch their games and they even went to Seattle over night in July for a Mariners home game. She came home with signed posters, hats, player cards and a love of all things baseball and Charlie.

On the fifth of July, amid some mighty hangovers, Sam and Emily's son Judd was born. We all went to the hospital to visit and I even enjoyed shopping for the baby gifts we showered them with. Nobody told Alice we'd enjoyed it.

Nessa took an instant shine to the little boy and she protected him fiercely. She sat with him in her lap, very carefully, as long as she was allowed. I spent a lot of time with Emily those first few weeks while Nessa had her fill of the delightful little man.

When school began in the September Nessa went for her first day to elementary school. She was as excited as I was anxious. She went happily but I couldn't just leave her there so I sat, in the Guardian, opposite the school and waited for her, all day. Emmett howled with laughter when he was told but Rose scowled at him and hugged me, telling me she would've done the same thing.

She came out all smiles and showed me her empty lunch bag proudly. She had taken grapes, of course, a slice of her favourite chocolate cake and some crisps. She was so pleased that she'd managed to con another slice of someone else's cake in exchange for the crisps. I didn't have the heart to admonish her for it. Instead I asked her to show me her memory of the other child's cake and we went home and made it so she could take that too, for her next day.

After that it got easier for me to leave her there. It also made it easier for Edward to convince me to begin my courses. So on October first I received my first modules for photography via the internet learning centre based in Seattle. That made four of us who would travel to and from Seattle to sit our exams. After the first few weeks I began to look forward to that, taking off with Edward to the city for a few days even if it meant sitting horrid exams.

Edward's school was really taking shape by the time Christmas rolled around. When the site was closed up for the holidays, and construction was suspended while the men took a break, he took us all there and walked us around the grounds. Construction was slow going but the parts that were done were breathtaking. He'd spared no expense. The lot looked nothing like the industrial wasteland it had been eighteen months prior.

Now it fronted the street with a huge plaque, ready for the name to be engraved on it, mounted to an enormous marble obelisk. A tarmac parking lot and drop off zone led the way to an impressive Administration block on the right hand side of the lot. It stretched almost as far back as the little wood that had once housed our wrecked Z4. This building was long and thin and two storeys high. Edward proudly showed us through the office spaces and then on into interview rooms, careers offices, staffrooms and then through to the first of the classrooms. I knew he'd build the music section first; they had been the first plans he'd asked for when he'd consulted with the architects. But even I was stunned into silence when I saw them finished for the first time.

One after the other he walked us through the sound proofed booths that housed state of the art computer mixing equipment just waiting for someone to bring it to life. Recording equipment lined the walls and instrument stands stood ready and waiting for the first young artists to fill them.

The further we went down the length of the building the bigger the rooms got. By the time we reached the last pair, that faced each other across a hall, Edward was about ready to burst out of his skin with excitement. I knew these were the piano rooms just by looking at his face. He swept the doors aside and ushered us in to the first one. Dark mahogany coloured acoustic cloth covered the walls and a darker shade of muting matting covered the floors. A smaller recording booth was walled off with glass to one side and a dozen or so chairs were arranged at the foot of a slightly raised stage. On it stood a perfect concert grand, just like the one he loved so much at Grahams. He went to it immediately and sat at the bench. His fingers itched to play so we each took a seat and begged him to show us what it could produce.

He only agreed to play, in the end, when Nessa said she would accompany him. His radiant smile said it all as his four year old daughter sidled up to the bench and plonked herself down, fingers at the ready, with no doubts or a self conscious bone in her little body.

They played, side by side, for an hour. You could've heard a pin drop in that room when they finally decided to finish. Our stunned silence was quickly broken by Nessa taking a deep bow and Emmett catcalling his praise. But Edward knew just how stunned we all were with the way they'd played. He knew how amazed we were. I made sure he knew just how impressed I was personally later on that night.

After the music section he showed us the foundations that had just been laid for the next block of classrooms. These would be language, science, arts, design and history rooms. There was a huge space set aside for the library and computer bank and another space set up for what would eventually be the photography labs and classroom. There was nothing to see by that point, it was just a concrete slab, but my excitement was building for the day I'd be able to teach what I knew to children.

He showed us the plans for the second storey of that building which was to house the regular curriculum classes. The maths department, English, literature, sciences, geography and humanities sections.

As we walked the grounds he pointed out where the grand hall was going to be built, effectively creating an H shaped site. Esme was going to design the interiors for the hall as she had done for Edward's offices, so we knew it was going to be grand and very beautiful. Two long, thin buildings on either sit of the lot and the grand hall/ auditorium in the centre creating the cross beam. In front of it would be gardens and behind it would be the gym, lunch area, cafeteria, sports facilities and a playground for the smaller students.

He had left our wood intact at the back of the lot and I never failed to smirk when I was near it. Edward always made sure to throw me a wink or a grin if we came anywhere near where he'd parked the car that night. I felt the shiver build in my toes as soon as I saw his beatific smile.

On this particular visit to the site he took us to somewhere we'd never been and not seen on any plans prior. He dragged Emmett to the back of the lot by his arm and stood on another slab of thick concrete, the plumbing and electrical outlets sticking out of it like tentacles.

When Emmett asked him what this part was going to be Edward smiled at him widely and announced that he'd decided to put in a wood and metal working workshop for kids who wanted to go into trade school. Emmett actually lifted Edward off the ground that day and swung him around and around.

So, Emmett too, joined us at online teachers college!

Our third Christmas as one big family turned out to be even bigger than usual. The Denali girls, Kate, Irina and Tanya decided they would come and spend it with us. Tanya brought the newly vegetarian Aro who was doing his very best to attune his thirst to our way of life. He wasn't a happy convert, yet, and Jasper spent hours with him discussing the pros and cons. From what Alice told us after they left, both men decided that sex with their mate was well worth the daily struggle with thirst. I was, once again, eternally grateful to never have had to battle with the knowledge of what an allure human blood held. Humans didn't bother me by this point. Of course I had never smelt human blood since being changed, so I had no point of reference just how trustworthy my resistance was, but I was confident I could resist if I ever did come in contact with it.

Nessa's thirst, however, _was_ tested.

Nessa, by that point, ate more human food than she hunted, but she still preferred blood. She went days between and we tried all the time to stretch it longer and longer before she herself asked to be taken hunting. Seth had begun to go with us although we didn't let them go off on their own. None of us was quite sure what the outcome would be if Seth was too close to her when she hunted. As with any newborn vampire the results could be dire, so we made sure they were with us and that Seth was well clear when she did actually feed.

Edward had taken her quite a few times to visit her granddad at the hospital. She loved to read about the various cases he was treating and whilst we'd never thought to assume that she would be able to learn medicine as such, she actually absorbed it like a sponge. All the while sitting on Carlisle's knee in his office.

On Christmas eve she'd begged to be taken to the hospital to visit with her grandfather and Edward had agreed to take her, for a little while, seeing as Carlisle was on duty and not likely to get home for our normal festivities that year.

She spent a little while looking over his case files with him and then an emergency was rushed into the ER that Carlisle had to treat. A car accident. Two injured one of them quite badly.

Edward was ushering Nessa out of the office and was attempting to take her back through Emergency and out to the parking lot when one of the injured boys from the car wreck was wheeled through the very same doors they were attempting to leave by. The boy was bleeding badly from a head injury and also from a gaping wound just under his ribs. His blood had soaked through his clothing and through the emergency shock blanket the paramedics had put over him. Edward had smelled it very strongly but had the restraint to know that he should just leave as fast as possible. Nessa, however, needed no such restraint.

Edward told me later that while she didn't react badly he knew straight away that the smell of the blood had intrigued her. Whether she recognised it as her thirst or merely another 'food' source that smelled good he wasn't sure. He also wasn't willing to stay to find out.

They left as fast as possible without drawing attention to themselves and he brought her straight home. She seemed no different to me but Edward said he was sure she would hunt at the first opportunity she found. He was right. At first light she asked us to hunt with her.

Edward talked to her about her reaction to the scent of the human blood but she couldn't tell him anything other than it smelled good. She said she felt no urge to have it, just that it smelled good. He'd been worried, unsure whether that would have a resounding affect on her ability to go to school or to be around humans when she solved the dilemma for him by announcing that chocolate smelled way better.

After that we both stopped worrying.

Our second wedding anniversary was spent in a hotel room in Seattle. Rose and Emmett had Nessa in their hotel room two floors below ours and the following day she was escorted through the city by Alice and Jasper who had a room two floors below Emmett and Rose. Edward and I sequestered ourselves into that hotel room for two whole days and a night. We didn't answer our cell phones to anyone other than the two couples who were watching our daughter of course, and we didn't come out of the room for anyone or anything.

The room was exquisite. The bathroom was even better. The huge Jacuzzi tub was even bigger than ours in the cottage and had I been still human I'd have emerged from my third honeymoon with skin like a wrinkled prune. As it was my perfect vampire skin came out looking no different than it did any other day and the only ones any wiser to our tub-time frolicking were Alice because she'd already seen it and the owner of the hotel who had to pay the bill for the water we used.

Two weeks after that trip we took Nessa to Alaska for the first time. Carlisle, Esme, Edward, Nessa and I flew up the day before her birthday and Alice and Jasper on the actual day as Alice had one last exam to complete before the trip. Rose and Emmett drove and met us there as they were planning a driving holiday for their return trip, whereas the rest of us were flying home after only four days as there was work to be done at the school site.

Again Eleazar was conspicuous by his absence and it was sad to know that he and Edward had not patched up their relationship, despite nothing ever having come from Eleazar's relaying of information to the Romanians.

For her second birthday we added a replica Cullen lion to her bracelet and Carlisle changed her crest bangle for a necklace of fine spun gold with the crest dangling from the centre of it. She adored both but once again Seth's gift outshone anything we could give her.

He'd worked at the garage for Sam for months to raise the money to buy her a hand carved music box that played Swan Lake when its lid was lifted. A tiny gold ballerina danced a perfect pirouette as the music played. She listened and watched that music box every night and fell asleep to the tune every night from the day Seth had given it to her.

The school construction was going brilliantly. Most of the buildings were complete, although many of them were still empty. We'd had to invest in a large warehouse in Port Angeles to house all the equipment for the classrooms and it would be transported into the newly finished buildings in late January. The buildings would all be finished late March but by then we had to be well underway hiring staff and teachers.

We were due to open in September when the new school year began so there was a lot to be done between January and when the first students would arrive.

We had a list of prospective students that Esme, Edward and I were whittling down to twenty each for the Music program, Art Extension program and the History program. Eventually we would take four times that many students in those areas, and many more in others, but I wasn't ready to begin teaching photography and the wood and metal workshops weren't ready for Emmett yet either. So for the first semester we'd begin with a shortened timetable and a skeleton staff.

Unfortunately that skeleton staff included a PA for Edward. I hated her on sight. Her name was Linda Collins and she was gorgeous, smart, confident and an utter bitch. Okay, she wasn't a bitch exactly, but I saw the way she swooned whenever Edward gave her an instruction or praised her work. So to me that made her a bitch. I knew I was right because Esme hated her too.

Oh, she was efficient and capable and totally dedicated to his every need, I just wasn't sure that his needs in the office were the only things she wanted to provide for him. I spent a lot of time that summer working right beside him at his desk in his office in the administration block.

Ms Collins – she said is 'miz' in that condescending 'am I or aren't I attached' kind of way that irritated me no end – was always careful to be very nice to me. She called me Mrs Cullen at all times, she offered me tea and coffee endlessly, she complimented me about as much as was necessary and she doted on Nessa. God I hated her.

Edward thought it was amusing. I was sure that he'd only hired her to annoy me. The more I tutted and clucked my tongue at her retreating back the more he laughed. The more I questioned her motives the more he enjoyed my sniping.

I wasn't quite as ashamed as I should have been when I insisted on marking my territory, and Edward, by having him on his brand new mahogany desk while she sat at her new desk in the outer office.

We'd had to be quiet but it was a deeply satisfying and tremendously passionate experience. I felt infinitely better about 'Miz' Collins for a few days after that. But it never lasted long.

Esme too had her doubts about Miz Collin's intentions toward her son. She observed the woman gazing longingly at him on more than one occasion and whilst she was extremely respectful of Edward's 'mother' she came across, to Esme, as a sycophantic gold digger.

Edward hired a business manager who turned out to be revenge in a designer suit! His name was Antony and he had the tiniest bit of a left over French accent and 'buns of steel' as Rose had dubbed them. He was taller than Edward and around twenty-six years old. He was well spoken, extremely well mannered and very respectful of all the Cullen's. He had great hair and jet black hair that he sleeked back with some sort of cream every morning. Esme described him as suave. Edward told me that his work was impeccable, that he had saved a fortune by implementing certain programmes and worked like a Trojan for the betterment of the project.

Edward hated him intensely.

Antony addressed me always as Isabella, something that Edward tolerated with gritted teeth and barely concealed resentment. I saw nothing in Antony's actions or heard anything in the way that he spoke to me that suggested anything other than him being polite to the bosses wife, but Edward insisted he leered at me and lusted after me. I asked him to tell me the man's thoughts, knowing it would prove it one way or another, but Edward said Antony was too smart to think that way when I was around. I laughed and told Edward he had nothing to go on and should let it go.

Some rather fun conversations were had where I accused Linda and Edward accused Antony, neither of us were able to prove anything, of course, but making up and marking our respective territories was a hell of a lot of fun, and lust.

On the other hand the general admissions clerk and all around customer service girl was a joy. Edward had poached Flick from Mr Nugent the estate agent and set about transforming her.

She eventually got over her fear of us and Edward worked hard to gain her trust.

He sent her off to secretariat school and explained to her that her appearance and her customer service skills were going to be a representation of the school and that she was going to be given an opportunity to further her skills there if she did all she could to learn.

She took to it like a duck to water. Within the week she had cut her hair and had it dyed all one colour. Gone were the skin tight miniskirts and out came the demure knee length pencil skirts and chic white blouses.

Edward said she'd ditched the loser boyfriend and was content and happy for the first time in her adult life. He felt good giving her the opportunity and she worked hard for him because she was grateful to have the chance to better her circumstance.

She learned to type and ditched the chewing gum. He was most proud when she told him that she had decided to revert to her proper name, Felicity, because it was more grown up. His smile could've lit up a ball park that day.

She admitted she had hated working for Mr Nugent because he always patted her on the bum when they were alone in his office. Edward assured her that he would never do something so disgusting and explained that he only had eyes for me, which she knew already, and they settled in quite nicely together.

Because she had the chance to set the office up as she wanted she had it running as smoothly as clockwork by the time the first student applications began rolling in.

Flick I liked. Linda, not so much. Edward tolerated Antony.

We had all just returned from the recent round of exams – at which Edward, Alice and Jasper completed their teaching degrees – and were enjoying a peaceful night at the big house when Alice dropped that vase and our lives changed forever.

**EPOV**

I'd gotten complacent. I'd shrugged off the threat when we'd heard no more.

And now the time had come. They were coming.

I wouldn't go down without a fight.

They couldn't take from me what I had. I wouldn't allow it.

"_Go Edward, go and have your family.'_ Carlisle was nodding at me across Alice's shoulder.

I handed Alice to Jasper and then took my wife and daughter home.

There would be time enough for planning and strategising. For this night I needed Bella and only Bella. Tomorrow we'd begin to map out how we'd crush those Romanian bastards and all they brought with them.

For tonight I'd have my wife and child and nothing and nobody would stop me.

Bella took my hand without a word, Nessa took Bella's and silently we ran home.

As we hit the forest near the edge of the river I heard Carlisle's voice as he spoke into the phone.

"Sam, its Carlisle. They're coming. One month. We'll need to meet here, first light. Seth needs to be at the cottage, now."

I paced along in front of the fireplace while we waited for Seth. The vanity plate from the Z4 had pride of place in the centre of the mantle and I ran a finger over it with pride. We'd been so carefree then. Things had seemed so much simpler. She'd come home, we'd made love a lot, we'd been a family.

Bella and Nessa were waiting patiently on the sofa so when I heard his thoughts as he approached I let them know that Seth was close. Nessa began to cry softly and Bella began to shake.

His face said it all as he burst into my home. He was flushed and trembling, visibly shaken. I nodded only once, he nodded in return. We understood each other.

Tonight we'd be a family, for tomorrow we'd plan a war.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading. If you've enjoyed this chapter please review and let me know why. If you've hated it please review and give me a rev up so I can improve. **


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46 – Meetings with purpose

46.

**EPOV**

"I have to have an end to this fast, Jaz." I said firmly.

He shifted from foot to foot and began to wonder what the hell I was planning. "Tell me what you need Ed." He asked.

I began to pace in front of where he now sat on the stone wall in the cottage courtyard. "I need your help, brother. I need this done, I need them taken out, and I need the threat removed from over my family's head."

His eyes widened as his comprehension began to catch up to his thoughts. "Jesus, are you serious?" He asked.

"I am. I waited with Jacob, I waited with Laurent, James and Victoria, I'm not waiting this time." I said firmly, coming to a stop right in front of him. "I want to work with you to end this, now."

He ran a hand through his hair as I was want to do and then he blew out a breath over his teeth. "Shit." He huffed. He stood from the wall and began pacing along the edge of the brickwork parallel to me, moving away from where I stood and then back towards me again. "Are you asking me to work out a strategy that ends the royal family?" He asked quietly.

"We have no royal family." I reminded him. He waved my words away with his hands but kept pacing. He was one of the older vampires I knew that still had a semblance of respect for the old ones. With a slight tilt to my head I replied as quietly as he had spoken. "That's exactly what I'm asking you to do."

He stopped then and came to stand right in front of me. I heard his decision before he said it and was already holding my hand out for the inevitable fist bump. "I'll talk to Peter, I can make that happen, I think."

He bumped my fist and we began the run to the house for the meeting.

I heard the wolves before I saw them.

Bella stood with me, her hand in mine, at the windows of the dining room as we waited for them to come. They were just as impressive as the first time we'd watched them come en masse through the trees.

Nine enormous wolves, their giant paws thudding at the ground as they flew over the baked earth of summer. Sam was at the head with Paul on his right flank and Leah at his left. She'd grown since the last time I'd seen her, she easily stood as tall as her mate Jack who ran behind her. Colin and Brady, the youngest wolves had also grown. They weren't as large as Seth – who had a year and a half growth on the two smaller boys – but they were getting close. The pack looked impressive as they came to the tree line at the back of the yard. Sam stopped and mentally called his charges to the trees to phase. He stood watch as each of them trotted into the trees a wolf and re-emerged as humans seconds later.

Paul then took guard duty while Sam himself went into the safety of the forest to return to human form.

The nine of them came to the backdoor. Esme beckoned them in and our meeting began.

Carlisle outlined what we knew, which wasn't much.

He told the pack that Alice had seen the decision to come to Forks but she could not see much more due to the proximity of the wolves in all parts of the decision making/conflict after that.

Seth still looked shell shocked as he sat beside Bella, his hand in her lap. Nessa sat on Bella's knee, her hand in Seth's lap. I watched the triangle of support from my position at the head of the table, where I stood beside my father.

"Is there any chance they will come and see that we are no threat and retreat?" Sam asked hopefully.

Carlisle looked to Alice who shrugged. "There is no way to know that I'm afraid." Carlisle began. "I wish I could say that was an option but in all honesty we just don't know. If this was a scouting mission they would just send an advanced guard. They certainly wouldn't be coming en masse as they are, leaving their stronghold unguarded."

Sam sighed. "Then we'll need to learn all we can about their guard and how to defeat them." He said stoically despite the horror and fear he felt in his thoughts. This was what the Alpha did. He projected a firm and calm presence; he assessed the situation and formed a reasonable plan.

I made up my mind then and there that that was what I would do too. I would take my cue from Sam and remain calm and reasonably form a plan.

Then I would annihilate the fuckers.

The other wolves were on my wave length. Each of them was thinking over ways to rid us of this latest threat in the shortest possible time. Some were thinking we should head them off, go to them and fight mid way, not sit and wait for them to come to us. Others were wondering if it just wasn't better to form an army of our own and take them out on their own turf. Both were fine suggestions and if any of the wolves cared to actually voice them I'd back them one hundred percent.

"Edward?" I was startled from my thoughts by Carlisle who had put his hand on my shoulder to rouse me.

"Yes? Sorry?" I said shaking my head.

'_Are you alright son?' _He asked me silently. I nodded and he repeated his question. "One of us is going to have to contact Eleazar, I want it to be you. Will you do it?"

I thought about that for a moment. Was I willing to extend my hand to the man I believed was personally responsible for what was coming for my daughter? I was not. "No." I said quite firmly and heard Esme sigh quietly.

"Then I will." Carlisle announced, but I said nothing. I knew he would do it, I'd had no doubt about that even before I'd refused. It made sense even if it couldn't be me that contacted him, someone should. "That will be my first move. I will call him today and will try to find out the reasoning behind the coming visit." Carlisle looked around the table at all the nodding heads.

Jasper got to his feet. "We'll need to begin their lessons, now. There's no other option." He said staring straight at the trio of trembling that was my wife and daughter and her mate.

My stomach clenched. I knew this too was going to happen. I'd read it from Jasper seconds after coming to the big house this morning but I'd managed to put it to the back of my mind until this very second. I was going to have to endure watching my wife and daughter being taught to defend themselves in a fight. A war. For this was what this was going to be. The Romanians would bring a guard, a very well trained – possibly gifted guard – and they would be ruthless and lethal.

"Edward?" Carlisle was speaking to me again and I clamoured to read from him what he wanted to know, lest I be caught losing myself in my thoughts once again.

"Yes, fine, whatever you need Jasper."I answered having delved into Carlisle's thoughts and seeing that they wanted to know if I'd help Jasper to teach the girls to fight. I'd said yes because I didn't want to argue about it here, in front of everyone. I'd talk to Bella about it and explain to her why I couldn't have any part in that.

"Nessa, sweetheart, would you go and play in your room for a little bit please darling? Mommy and daddy have to talk with everyone for a bit, but it's not for little ears." I leant across the table to where Nessa sat in Bella's lap.

She looked back over her shoulder at her mother who was smiling as though nothing had happened and so Nessa formed the opinion that everything was fine. "Okay daddy." And with that she leapt from Bella's lap and ran up the stairs to our suite. A few seconds later I heard the television turn on and the sounds of it filter down the stairs.

Emmett was on his feet then, prowling along the side of the room behind the chairs. He was forming his words before he said them and I was already forming my support for his suggestion. When he stopped pacing he turned to me, stared directly at me and asked me in his thoughts whether he should say what he was going to say. I nodded and he began.

"I know you're going to baulk at this Carlisle, but hear me out." He began quite respectfully to our leader, but I knew where he was headed and knew the brick wall he was about to hit. I was already forming my own reasons for supporting this plan. "You know as well as I do these two have no plan to come here and see the wolves for themselves. This is to eradicate us and them, plain and simple. We've formed an alliance with a pack of werewolves," he put his hand up to stop Sam's protesting before it began, "even though we all know they aint werewolves at all. The two goons aren't interested in information, they've got that in spades and they're coming anyway. Right?" He looked around the room at the nodding heads. He began to pace as he spoke, "So, we don't need to learn to defend ourselves from them, we need to learn how to defeat them. Take them out. End it now. Finish this once and for all, for all of us, and not just us sitting in this room. If we sit passively and try to talk this out, and say that works which I hope it does, isn't anyone else afraid that they'll just go home and regroup and come back again?" He made good sense but Carlisle was already shaking his head, he was so anti violence that even the truth in Emmett's statement wouldn't make him turn on his ruling clan. "I mean, Nessa and Seth are going to be together, that's not up for negotiation. They'll see that when they get here. So say we talk them in to leaving, or it comes to a fight and in some capacity we win, they'll only go home and try again because Nessa will still be with Seth, vampire and wolf."

Carlisle was about to say enough, that violence was not the answer. "Carlisle." I said softly putting a hand on his shoulder this time. "Let him speak." I asked of my shocked father. I'd never asked this of him before, to set aside his compassion and see the looming conflict as a way to get out from under the oppressive cloak of the Romanians once and for all. "We've lived in fear of them for long enough. Let him speak."

Carlisle bowed his head but said no more.

Emmett went on. "There are ten wolves here, including Seth and eight of us. I don't know how many they are planning on bringing but if they know anything about us, this group, they know our numbers. They'll outdo us for sure. If we contact the other covens we know you never know, there might be a few interested in having a crack at the old guys. Now I'm not saying we ask them to stand and defend us, we'd be asking them to come and stand up for themselves." He looked to Carlisle and nodded in deference to his father, "Dad, I know this isn't what you want but I think they all have a right to make the choice for themselves, and so do we." He said the last part very, very quietly.

Carlisle was as torn as I'd ever seen him. His natural default setting was to live and let live but even he could see the intelligence in letting the other covens decide for themselves. "Okay son. We'll contact them. They deserve to know anyway. But I want it known that I oppose a violent approach. If it comes to a fight I'll fight, but I'll not instigate one. Any of you," he pointed around the room, even at the wolves, "Who intend to instigate a war say so now so we all know where we stand. I vote we at least try to plead our case."

"Fight." Emmett.

"Fight." Paul.

"Fight." Jasper.

"Defend." Esme.

"Fight." Leah.

"Fight." Sam.

"Defend." Alice.

"Fight." Rose.

A chorus of 'fight' from the other wolves.

That left Bella, Seth and I.

I looked to Bella. She looked to Seth and then at me with wide eyes. She mouthed 'I love you' and then in a very clear, firm voice she said 'fight'. Carlisle sighed. "How can I not fight for my child Carlisle?" She whispered but Carlisle still shook his head.

Seth sat higher in his seat and put his hand into Bella's. "Fight." He mumbled.

"Fight." I announced as soon as the word had left his lips. "I've voted to defend before Carlisle."I told him as his shoulders sagged in defeat. "I lost her humanity to Jacob by defending. I almost lost them both to James, Laurent and Victoria because we chose to defend. This ends now. I have to fight."

**BPOV**

For two days after that meeting Edward refused to let us out of his sight. That included Seth. Of course Harry and Sue understood but Seth felt trapped, claustrophobic, and he and Edward ended up in a fight at the end of the second day.

I could see both sides. I understood Seth's need to be with his pack, and even though he did want to spend as much time with Nessa as he could he needed to be a part of the preparations going on at the Rez, too. But I could also see Edward's point of view. He wanted his family together, he wanted to be able to protect us from what was coming and he needed to have control as head of his family. They clashed loudly and I had to step in between them to ask them, plead with them, for Nessa's sake, to calm down.

At six years old she was frightened to hear her father raise his voice as he rarely did, even in jest he was soft spoken. But what scared her more was Seth's reaction to Edward. Seth had yelled and raised his fist at Edward and Nessa was frightened for them both in equal measure and torn between the father she adored and the boy she loved wholly.

When they'd seen the anguish on Nessa's face they'd calmed almost instantly and had begged both hers and my forgiveness for losing their tempers. There had been no harm done and after that they'd come to an agreement about Seth's whereabouts.

During the day, when the pack were planning and strategizing he would be with his pack at the Rez. At night he would sleep with us at the cottage. I knew Edward still didn't like that arrangement but it was the best he was going to get from the boy who felt torn down the middle.

We'd talked to Seth, at length, about how he felt. We listened carefully and did our best to let him know that we would do our very best to make sure that both he and Nessa came out of this together. He didn't seem as frightened as I would've been in his shoes and Edward told me later how Seth had put his utter faith in us and in his pack to protect them both.

He asked hundreds of questions about the Romanians and I tried to learn right along with him. I only knew them as 'the Romanians' and nothing more. I didn't even know their names!

After Nessa was in bed that first night we sat with him for hours and both he and I listened to Edward tell us all he knew about the Romanians.

He told us that Stefan and Vladimir had ruled over vampires for two thousand years. That they had at one time been two thirds of a trio, Eleazar had decided to quit their company over two hundred years ago when he met Carmen. She was unwilling to live there with him, even though they were bonded mates and by that time husband and wife in the traditional sense as well. So Eleazar had left his place with the royal family and had gone to live with Carmen.

He explained that they were both utterly ruthless but that Vladimir had, at least, a small semblance of compassion within him. Stefan, however, did not.

Stefan dressed all in black, always, and he adored the fact that humans believed that vampires were the stuff of fairytales. He thinks Dracula movies are the only things worth watching and the only thing he has in common with his 'brother' Vladimir is their paired fear of werewolves.

Stefan once argued a point of 'vampire law' against Aro in the 1400's and lost, he's kept that grudge ever since, labelling Aro 'the worst kind of vampire, one filled with self importance'. The irony of that has always been lost to Stefan.

Vladimir, whilst also passionate about wearing only black, was as fair as the day is long. He is snowy white blonde with classical Slavic features, much softer than Stefan's seemingly cruel beaked face.

Vladimir was actually Slavic for 'Rule with Greatness' and he's decided that he does.

The trio, when it included Eleazar, were once vampire royalty. They ruled with iron fists if not fangs of steel, as Edward chuckled. They showed no mercy to those who in any way brought about the decline of vampire numbers. The penalty, had they still been rulers, for Edward having killed James would've been his own execution. That made me shudder. Of course, that also meant that Rose and Emmett would have been executed too, Esme as well. I couldn't comprehend such a law.

But Edward went on to tell us that they were superseded, that their true power was rescinded when the clan system was abandoned in the 1800's. They were resentful, of course, and vowed to one day reclaim their rightful place at the top of the coven heap. So far that had not happened.

Edward said that the Romanians seemed to believe that being the oldest 'living' vampires entitled them to govern the 'race' for want of a better word. They were respected, in that they are so old and have experienced so much, but none of the vampire covens owed them any allegiance if they didn't wish to.

Since the new system had been put in place vampires had been self governed. There were no standing laws, only that no child ever be turned, as Carlisle had explained to us when we had been expecting Nessa. We weren't bound to keep our existence a secret but we all knew the advantage of it. Humans feared us for a reason. It would cause mass hysteria if we were to 'come out' en masse. I shivered when I recalled my own initiation into the vampire realm. My parents had taken a few days to come around to it, but then _my _vampires were vegetarians. I imagined it would've been a lot harder to _sell _us as a race to humans if we all fed off them.

By the time Seth had gone to sleep that night he had a head filled with details and if he felt half as overwhelmed as I did he was very overwhelmed indeed.

**EPOV**

There was so much to explain, so much to tell them both, so much to prepare them for. And I didn't want to have to do any of it. I'd argued and fought with my family two years ago about whether to tell either of them these things and now I wished that I had listened then and explained it all as thoroughly as I could. Not for the first time I regretted the decisions I'd made.

It had been an amazing two years though. We'd laughed, loved and grown. We were perfect, a perfect family. I had everything I wanted and more. Now I was going to be forced to fight for it, again.

I regretted that I'd lost my temper with Seth and it had taken Bella's voice of reason to bring me out of my selfish rage. The boy was being pulled in all directions and I had no right to insist he do things my way. He was frightened, more for Nessa than for himself. He trusted us, and his pack, to do all we could to protect them and I felt the weight of that responsibility heavily. Once I saw that was the overriding thought in his brain, that he was more concerned for Nessa than for himself, I softened my stance. I needed to help him, not bully him. So we'd agreed he'd stay there during the day and with us at night.

It had been decided at the meeting that as many vampires as possible would be contacted and given all the information we could give them about the coming conflict. We would make them welcome if they chose to stand with us, but we'd also understand if they chose to stay away. Whilst we were a free 'people' to a point, there was as much to be gained from defeating, once and for all, the Romanians as there was staying out of it and going about your business. I had no doubt our families, the Denali's and the Irish in particular, would arrive en masse to assist.

This of course meant that Eleazar would attend. I did not know how I felt about that, so for now it needed to be put aside so that I could concentrate on the tasks at hand. Those tasks being the training of the wolves and the instruction of the pack on whom we already knew comprised the Romanians guard.

Carlisle had spent some significant time with them soon after his own change, and again after his conversion to our chosen lifestyle, so he knew some members of the guard back then. We had no reason to believe those members had changed but of course the guard had been extended, and would more than likely be added to again in order to confront us and the wolves.

Carlisle's most recent attempt at conciliation had fallen on deaf ears. He'd called Stefan personally but had been told that our alliance with the 'werewolves' was in 'direct conflagration and contravention of all that the Royal family held dear'. Carlisle had politely reminded Stefan that we no longer had a Royal family but the call had been very abruptly terminated. Any attempts at a further communication had been ignored.

The rest of us took that at face value, that neither Stefan nor Vladimir was interested in hearing any reasoning. Carlisle, of course, took that to mean that the telephone connection was terrible between the US and Europe and he should try again in a few days time. We'd all rolled our eyes at him but he wouldn't be swayed.

The first expressions of support came from those covens we knew already. The Irish, Italians, the American nomads and of course the Denali cousins. Eleazar had left a personal message for me but I'd ignored it. I felt no different than I had two years ago. He was welcome to come to the big house if Carlisle and Esme chose to invite him, but he'd not set foot in my cottage. I'd made myself clear to the others, they could either accept that or ignore it as they saw fit. I didn't want to fight with Bella about it but I had stood my ground, even going so far as to insist. I knew he'd come to Forks, I just couldn't have him in my home again.

Benjamin and Tia had also expressed a desire to visit although Amun had declined to travel, though he wished us well with our efforts. Carlisle reported that he was concerned about Benjamin being away from him, but in the end Benjamin had put his foot down – after 374 years of being told what to do by his sire mind you – and had 'told' Amun that he and his wife would be travelling to Washington to help our Nessa in any way they could. Amun had had to cede to his wishes.

A telegram had been sent to Zafrina but as yet no reply had been forthcoming. It may take a few days to reach them as they were hidden deep inside the Amazon basin.

I explained all this to both Bella and Seth at night while Nessa slept peacefully in her little pink room at the cottage. She knew that there was going to be a fight, which could not be kept from her, but she didn't fully understand why and we all wanted it to stay that way. She knew some 'bad men' were coming to see the wolves and that all of us were going to fight to protect them but nothing was ever mentioned in her presence about the problem also being about her as well as Seth. I wouldn't allow it and thankfully nobody else ever considered it. The other thoughts were always of how best to continue with our plans in a way that would impact as little as possible on Nessa's life in Forks. At six years old she actually had a life of her own. She had some little friends from the school, she played in the local parks with them and she had even had a couple of them to the big house to swim. She'd been to several birthday parties and she was both well liked and popular wherever she went. Her and Seth had regular time at the Rez together as well as time spent with all the family members as they went about their lessons. Nobody wanted that disturbed. So while we all went about the business of contacting family and friends Nessa's life continued on as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

As we began to hear from other covens, even ones we didn't know existed, we all gathered in the dining room at the big house to learn about who our latest guests were going to be.

Carlisle would begin by telling us where the coven lived, how they lived and whether or not they were likely to come and support or come and fight with us. Sometimes he had those answers, other times not. Each time a coven had been contacted, or found, we'd asked for information about any gifts or talents within the group. We made sure they knew that they weren't obligated to tell us, some covens preferred to keep their talents secret, but we did ask so that we'd know what we had at the groups disposal when it came to fighting. The information we received was fascinating and not a little intimidating.

We were, the Olympic coven, by far the largest coven we'd found so far but we weren't the most talented by a long shot. For sheer force of numbers we had more gifts per head than other covens but ours seemed fairly mild compared to some of the gifts out there. Carlisle was fairly buzzing with all the new information he was gathering.

The wolves took notes but the vampires didn't need to. Our cavernous brains would allow us to hold the information and recall it at will; it wouldn't be that simple for the wolves.

We always had our meetings while Nessa was away at school or at night after she had been put to bed. For the two weeks after Alice' vision announcing the Romanians were coming Nessa slept every night in her room at the big house. Never once did she sleep at the cottage. Each night there was new information for us to learn.

**BPOV**

There was so much to learn!

We sat around the dining room table for hours learning about new vampires that had come to light. Some the family knew, but mostly they didn't know of their existence at all. Each of the covens we did know knew of covens we didn't, so this massive family tree of vampires came to light.

The general consensus was that the Romanians were bolshy and behaved far above their station, something the other vampires around the world would seriously like to remedy. Many of the covens we heard from were eager to help us if it meant toppling the Romanians. Whilst that wasn't exactly our plan, we only wanted to protect the wolves and Nessa, the support was needed, and welcomed.

Alice had seen that the Romanians would arrive en masse and ready to fight on Sunday April 1st. We had told as many vampires as possible of this date and many had agreed that they should begin arriving mid March so that we'd have time to be introduced and for us all to learn the strengths and weaknesses of each other, and of the group as a whole if we were going to have to fight. Those that planned to witness or defend would arrive later as there was no need for them to be in on the planning or the strategy meetings the boys had scheduled once we knew our finished numbers.

So for the ten days at the beginning of March the pack and I tried to learn as much as we could about what we were likely to face. On school days Nessa attended her little school in Port Angeles as normal. In the mornings on the weekends Nessa went to Renee's to the daycare centre or she went with Esme to Port Angeles shopping and she even went out in the boat with Charlie on his day off. Anything to get her away from the mess we were facing. I went with Jasper and the others to the clearing to be taught how to fight. I wanted Edward there, I wanted him to have a hand in teaching me. I wanted it to be him who showed me how to defend our child and myself.

I tried to get him to go along but he made excuse after excuse. Eventually I worked out that he'd enlisted both Alice and Carlisle into giving him seemingly legitimate reasons to be busy elsewhere when my training was happening. Edward had left the house half an hour earlier to run an errand in town for Carlisle, so I went to find his co-conspirator. I found him in his study and asked him why he kept sending Edward on useless errands when fight practise was on, but he waved a hand in front of me and refused to discuss it. So that left Alice.

She and Jaz were in the garage getting ready to head to the clearing for practise when I found them. "Hey, Alice, got a minute?" I asked. She shook her head but stayed silent. She knew what I wanted, already. I went to where she stood at the back of her Porsche and tried again. "Why doesn't he want to help me?" I asked quietly.

Jasper hissed softly and walked away, back towards the house. He wanted no part of this, obviously.

Alice put her change of clothing into the trunk and pushed it shut. She took a deep breath then turned to me. She put her hands on my shoulders and kissed my cheek. "I agree that you deserve to know the answer to that, but it's him who has to explain it. It's none of my business. Sorry." She let me go and went back into the house.

I stood in the garage and seethed. This was just so...so...so fucking Edward!

I ran inside and tore the keys to the Veyron off the board. Edward hated the thought of anyone else driving it and apart from Carlisle and my father I didn't think anyone ever had. I certainly hadn't. But I was mad and I wanted to make a point, so I took the Veyron and went to find him. He was driving the Z4 so it wouldn't be too hard to spot in amongst the ordinary cars.

I drove down the main street first but didn't see it anywhere. I drove down the two shorter streets that flanked the main shopping street and didn't spot it either. I got madder and madder as I drove. By the time I saw his car parked in the lot outside the estate agency I was livid. I parked the Veyron in the street and let it idle while I waited for him to come out.

I knew why he was in there, the whole family had discussed the logistics of hosting fifty or so vampires in Forks and had agreed we'd take as many hotel rooms as we could book out for those weeks that we'd be inundated. But that still wouldn't be enough. So we'd taken the lease on several properties around town and some of the keys for those places could be collected both today and tomorrow. That's what Carlisle had sent Edward to do today.

So when he came out of the agency with a thick wad of paperwork and a handful of keys I tooted the Veyrons horn and tried to get his attention. He didn't even blink. He was so used to ignoring humans he didn't even shift his eyes from the Z4.

I turned the Veyron off and strode towards where he was parked ahead of me. I tapped on the glass of his window and he jumped about a foot out of his seat when he saw me standing there in the street, arms crossed unhappily over my chest and scowling down at him.

**EPOV**

Jesus Christ!

I wound the window down and stared up at her. "What the fuck Bella?" I barked at her.

She sneered but said nothing. She should've been at fight practise. That was the whole point of me being on the errand in the first place, so I couldn't attend the practises. What the fuck was she doing in town?

I opened my door and she stepped back a little to let me out. I ran a hand through my hair and prayed this was nothing to do with my absence. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you in the clearing? Is everything alright at the house?" I asked, trying not to panic.

She sniggered and dropped her arms. She took a step towards me and whispered, "I need a word, Edward."

I could see that she did but I had no idea what about. "Okay." I said carefully.

"Not here. You want to drive somewhere or run somewhere?" She hissed and I knew she was pissed at me.

I also knew what about. There could be nothing else, I hadn't done anything else. At least I didn't think I had. Liam's words before the wedding came back to me then, that everything was always the guys fault, no matter what.

I didn't want to leave the Z4 in the street. "Drive." I answered cautiously.

"Parking lot at the school, it'll be empty." She spat at my feet then she was walking away.

I let my eyes follow her and saw her slide into my fucking Veyron!

Jesus Christ she was pissed. If she was mad enough at me to taunt me by driving my Veyron when she knew I didn't want anyone to touch it, ever, then I knew I was screwed. And I knew why.

I watched as she tore out of the space behind me and sped off down the main street of town. She fishtailed it around the corner by the drug store and I winced as the tyres howled their protest as she floored it up the road.

I slid back into the Z4 and drove quite sedately towards the high school parking lot.

She was there already, of course, standing up against the driver's door of the Veyron, arms crossed over her chest defiantly. I sighed as I pulled up beside her. I took half a second to gather myself and tried to form a decent enough reason in my head for my latest indiscretion.

The look on her face as I walked towards her told me it wasn't going to matter what my reasoning was. She was far too angry to listen to it anyway. I steeled myself for the wrath of Bella the Brave.

"I'm sorry." I whispered as I stopped two feet from where she stood. "I know there's no point telling you why I can't help, just know that I can't."

"You can't just say that and expect me to not want to know." She hissed. "Why?" She growled.

I took a small step backwards and let her have her head. She was utterly furious. I could smell her venom as she moved from foot to foot fighting the urge to slip into a crouch. "Bella, honey, please, I don't want to fight about this with you." I pled.

She grinned minutely. "Oh, we aren't fighting, yet. I want to know what this is about and why you refuse to help me learn to defend myself. Have you given up? Is that it? Do you know something I don't and you've decided we're going to lose so there's no point teaching me now? If you have you had better tell me Edward or our last days on this earth together are going to be ugly." She seethed over bared teeth.

I staggered backwards as pain and fear flooded my system. "NO!" I roared before I could control the urge. I flew to her and pulled her arms away from her chest roughly. I held her by her shoulders and shouted into her shocked face, "No! I've not given up, I'll never give up. We can do this, if we work together and listen to Jaz and Peter we can do this." I was panting in panic as I spoke, venom flying from my lips. "I can't help you learn to fight, it hurts too much. I can't...I can't bear it Isabella." I used her full name so she'd know how serious I was.

She flinched as I let her go. Her face softened a little but not enough to let me think she understood. I'd not really explained. She wasn't done. "But why? Would you have me unable to defend myself? And what of Nessa? What if, god forbid, it comes to just me and her, would you leave her with only me not knowing what to do for her?" She raged.

I could see her point but I knew, deep down, that was the least likely scenario we were facing. If we all perished and it was just her and Nessa left standing nothing would protect them. The strangled sob I let out of my throat frightened her and she stepped away, off to the side, away from the car. Her eyes never left mine, though. "Looking at you that way, analysing you as a target. Seeing all the ways I can kill you..." I trailed off. I shook my head to fight off the images I could see. "It makes it too real for me. We don't have so much time left that it will really make a difference who your teacher is. Anyone can teach you the fundamentals." I told her and hoped she would leave it alone.

Of course she did not.

"I _need_ to learn this, this is something my mate should've taught me before now Edward." She raged.

I did the only thing I could to diffuse the situation. I stepped forward and took her face between my palms. I ran my thumb over her pouting lower lip and sighed. "I love you Bella, more than my life and you know this to be true. I will not be the one to teach you this. Find another teacher." I bent my lips to hers and kissed her lightly.

I let her go and got back into the Z4 and drove away. That was the last time I would discuss it.

**BPOV**

I watched him drive away and then I spat a mouthful of venom out onto the tarmac and cursed. Logically I knew the others could teach me as much, and in Jasper's case probably more, than Edward could, but I didn't want to be taught by anyone else. This was something I wanted to learn from him, something he should've taught me long before now. This was something I wanted to achieve together. We were planning to stand side by side in battle and I was going to be the weak link in our normally equal partnership.

I knew from the way he'd spoken and from the way he'd left that I would get no further joy from him on this subject. If I wanted to learn to fight it would be from my brothers, not my husband.

I returned to the house, put the Veyron into the garage and ran for the clearing. I'd missed half the lesson but soon caught up. The wolves were all there and were working hard. Within five minutes of arriving I was too.

Edward and I never discussed it again. He didn't change his mind and I didn't ask him to. I could see the pain on his face whenever someone else brought the topic up, even innocently, so I let it go. He was right, after all, there wasn't so much time left to us that we should spend it fighting about something so trivial.

I'd much rather spend what time we had left together being in love with my husband. So during the day I went to my lessons and Edward did Carlisle's errands or his own. When we were both finished we would collect Nessa from whomever she'd gone with that day and we'd return to our cottage for some alone time with our daughter. The two of them played a lot and we played almost everything we could think of to keep her amused and happy. We had a lot of visits from the family as they too tried to get their fill of her, and us, just in case our time was to be cut short. Nobody ever spoke about that though, we all just moved around that as though it didn't exist.

But we all knew, deep down, that it did. It overshadowed everything, everyone and every move we made.

And then vampires began to arrive in Forks. Lots of vampires. An army of vampires.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I hope you are enjoying the story so far and are gearing up for the fight to come. Please review as I would appreciate your comments, they keep me motivated. **


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47 – Nouveaux Alliés

47.

**EPOV**

The first coven to arrive to offer their help, should it come to a fight, was a group of Germans, four in all. Dieter introduced himself and then his coven mates Renmark (who preferred to be called Rennie) his mate Maria and a lone female named Anna.

You could see that Dieter was overwhelmed by our numbers because we were one family, not several covens come together. He asked pointed questions about us all and about our various gifts and talents.

They were fascinated with Nessa the instant they met her and from their thoughts I could tell they were aghast that the Romanians would want to destroy such a wonderful little girl, even though our association with the wolves would take them a few days to feel comfortable with.

Dieter was as blonde as Emmett was dark. His bright crimson eyes frightened Renesmee at first but once we explained that he was no different from Charlotte or Zafrina – whom Renesmee loved intensely – she had no trouble spending time with the new group.

We learned from Dieter that he was a tracker, just as James had been. Carlisle and I spent a few hours learning what we could about his skills and added the information to the fat file Carlisle was composing. Of course we asked first if the new group minded being added to the file, secrecy was, of course, paramount to our kind and a file lying about with information in it of that nature could be dangerous. But Dieter liked and respected both Carlisle and what we were trying to achieve so he agreed to have his skills catalogued.

The next group to arrive were our Denali cousins, sans Eleazar and Carmen. They had Aro in tow, however. I was relieved that Eleazar hadn't come with them this early in proceedings.

I had been present when Carlisle contacted Eleazar to ask exactly what the motivation behind the visit was, but Eleazar had been unable to shed any light on the subject other than those details we already knew for ourselves. He admitted having travelled to Romania soon after Nessa's christening but denied any involvement in the coming conflict. He said he'd explained Bella's shield, Nessa's gift and her capacity to learn but said that the Romanians had seemed uninterested in any of that, citing the gifts and talents as 'useless' to them, just as Alice and Carlisle had predicted.

Our involvement with the wolves, however, had peaked Stefan's interest. It was this that had invoked this confrontation, and it was that one small piece of information that I could not, and would not, forgive Eleazar for sharing.

I knew he would come, at some point, but the closer that was to the actual fight the better as far as I was concerned. The least amount of time I had to spend with him near me the better it would be for us both.

Tanya, Irina and Kate had an emotional reunion with Esme and then another with Bella and Nessa. I watched as my two girls were folded into hug after hug and offered all the support and encouragement the three cousins could reasonably muster.

Once the reunion had settled down the group expressed their desire for the coming fight. I'd never heard or seen my cousins so flagrantly violent before. They were keen to get started with strategizing and battle field placements.

Aro saved me from having to ask the girls to tone things down while Nessa was in earshot by whisking the three girls away to be introduced to the Germans who stood slightly off to the side while the noisy reunion was had.

I was given the task of taking the German group to one of the hotel rooms we'd reserved in town and also of reminding them that should they need to hunt they should do so well outside state lines. Dieter assured us that his group was well fed and that they wouldn't need to feed again until after the fighting. I could tell he was sincere, as were the others in his group, from their thoughts. I was relieved. Charlie would be too.

He was my next stop that night before I headed home to the cottage.

**BPOV**

I was disappointed that Eleazar and Carmen hadn't come. I knew Carlisle was eager to have the hostilities between he and Edward resolved but I also knew that Edward had no intention of 'playing nicely' with Eleazar. But for me I missed Eleazar's counsel. He would know about what we were facing, he'd know the size of the guard, how hard they were willing to fight and I desperately wanted to know that now, not later.

While he and Edward were apart, geographically at least, reconciliation was never going to come about. I hoped that once they were forced to be in the same room together they might, at the very least, be able to be civil to one another again. I needed to hear what Eleazar had to say and I hoped that when the time came I could convince Edward to listen too.

But, for now, I was happy to have the Denali girls at the house. For the first time in weeks the conversation was light, centred on Nessa instead of the coming fight, and I felt happier and calmer than I had for days.

Nessa was fawned and fussed over by the three women and I was happy to sit back and watch as they got their fill of her. It hadn't been all that long since they'd seen her, they'd been in Forks for Christmas again this year, so her growth didn't startle them as much as it was going to the Amazons or the Italians when they arrived.

"Bella?" I heard my name and looked around the room to see who'd called me. It was Esme and she was looking at me as though I had two heads.

"Yes?" I answered.

"I was asking if you wanted me to take Nessa to her bed upstairs or are you taking her home tonight, she's asleep in your arms there dear." She nodded towards the sleeping child curled up against me on the sofa. I hadn't noticed.

"Oh. Um, I think we're taking her home, Edward shouldn't be too much longer." I told her.

She came and sat beside me and took my hand into hers, stroking it gently. "It will be alright, dear. I know it will. We didn't wait this long for you both only to have it end like this." She kissed me on my hair and patted my hand again.

Had the look on my face really been that sombre? It must have been because Rosie was staring at me and Jasper was taking surreptitious glances at me every few minutes too.

"I know mom." I answered when I finally gathered my thoughts enough. "I think I'll take her home. I'll see you all in the morning." The family said goodnight to me and to the sleeping Nessa, who I gathered up into my arms. She was so big now, at six she couldn't be cradled in my arms anymore, I had to put her at my hip and let her arms and legs dangle, her head resting under my chin, as I walked us home.

I slipped her between the sheets of her bed and kissed her goodnight.

I went across the hall and into our study. I sat in the leather chair for a while and thought about all that was about to happen.

I was having fighting lessons every day. I had to learn about all the new vampires and what they could do. I was having to learn all about strategies and how to defend not only myself but my daughter and her mate too. My life was filled with tension and fear and nobody was exempt from it. Even my parents had begun to worry even though we'd played down the danger and the size and scale of the conflict that was fast approaching.

I knew Edward was there now, talking to them again, trying to allay their fears as best he could. I couldn't do it or go with him when he went, I was still a terrible liar and they'd know from a single look at my face that everything Edward was telling them right this second was bullshit. I didn't want that for them. I wanted them to enjoy Nessa while they could. I wanted them to believe that the three of us were going to live forever. I wanted them to know I loved them and that I was happy during these past years with my vampire family.

The only way I could make that happen was to write.

So that's what I did that night. I filled page after page telling my parents how much I loved them and my own family. How much I adored Edward and how I was about to follow him into the battle of our lives. I told them how proud I was to be a Cullen, how happy I was to be married and a mother. How very happy I was that they had stood by me when I'd needed to be changed and about how happy it made us all that they knew and loved their granddaughter they way they did.

At the end of the last page I told them both that should we perish in the fight not to mourn us but to celebrate what we'd had for the length of time we'd had it. I told them to enjoy each other, to love each other as much as they could. I told them I loved them and knew that both Edward and Nessa did too and that I honestly believed that Edward had been well worth the risk, right from the first day I laid eyes on him.

I folded the pages and slid them into the envelope and into the pocket at the front of Edward's current journal just as Edward came through the front door looking for me.

**EPOV**

The big house was lucky it was big when seven Asian vampires arrived the following morning. We'd had word that they were coming so it wasn't a surprise, but none of us knew what to expect because none of us had ever encountered an Asian vampire!

They were three separate covens all travelling together as one group. Three Chinese two Malaysians and two Japanese. They were all tiny, barely five feet tall. They were all deeply respectful of us, and our home, and had impeccable manners. They spoke flawless English and assured us that they were well fed and able to go as long as a month before needing to feed. We were all interested to learn how to go that long, it was something we would be sure to discuss should we survive the coming war. Carlisle was in information heaven when we learned that the tiny Chinese vampire Su could manipulate the weather. She took us all out into the backyard and we watched in awe as she turned her body in a tight circle and 'cut off' the Forks drizzle. Her mate, Pin, explained that as long as she concentrated she could keep it at bay, or call it to fruition, for as long as she liked. She could summon a storm, lightening, thunder, rain snow and clouds at will. It would only be effective in a two mile radius and he sounded apologetic for it, but I was astounded and said so, much to his and Su's delight. Her coven mate Lu Hu explained that this talent was often employed when the coven needed to travel to normally arid parts of the Asian continent and many a time a freak storm or typhoon could be attributed to his very talented friend.

Whilst the manipulation of weather was intriguing it was nowhere near as important as the information on the Romanians that the Asians had brought with them.

They had come to fight, which bothered Carlisle, and could help us plan and strategize as they'd had a previous problem with the Romanians themselves.

"We too had an alliance with shape shifters. Our wolf friends lived in Mongolia in the latter half of the sixteenth century and word of our association reached the royal family. A guard was sent to destroy them, and us. We fought, but sadly we lost three of our coven mates and all of the wolves perished." Lu Hu hung his head and said a small prayer in Mandarin in his thoughts before looking to where Seth, Sam and Paul sat looking aghast.

"Yeah, well, they aint going to do that this time." Emmett boomed. He bumped fists with Seth but the boy was frightened out of his boots to learn this had happened before.

"Will you spend some time with Jasper and Peter when he arrives and let them know some details of that confrontation, please?" I asked Lu Hu who said they would.

Bella went off to her fighting lesson without comment that day and I was grateful that she seemed to have let our personal conflict go. I didn't want her unable to defend herself but couldn't be party to teaching her how to fight. So Nessa stayed with me while the lessons went on. Today in the clearing they were joined by Lim and Sima who offered to lend a hand to the youngsters. Bella and Seth were unamused to be referred to as that but went anyway.

Tu stayed at the house with us. The remaining men were all eager to hear tales of his time as a Samurai.

**BPOV**

Leaving Nessa was becoming more and more difficult for me. Of course she couldn't come to the fighting lessons but I didn't want to be separated from her, or Edward, if I didn't need to be. I needed to learn to fight but hated that it meant hours away from them.

Seth felt the same even though he didn't put voice to it. Our run to the clearing was always silent as everyone thought over the reason we were there and what it would mean if we failed.

That day I was paired with Jared, Colin and our Rose. She was a tough task master. She demanded one hundred percent concentration and if you dared slacken off, even for half a second while you recovered from being hit upside the head by a giant wolf's paw, she pounced on you and beat you to a pulp!

She was ruthless, lethal and utterly, mind- blowingly brilliant at it. I stuck as close to her as I could and learnt all that I could.

Jared was coming along nicely. He was really big because he was so tall as a human. His shaggy black coat made it hard for me to get a grip as he whizzed by me time and time again during the practise. Colin was smaller but quicker.

For the last ten minutes of the session Jasper, Peter, Lim, Rennie and Rose became the targets and the wolves lined up to attack them. We were more than likely going to be facing a long line of very talented – and if not gifted then very strong and well trained vampires in the Romanian guard.

So far we only knew vague information about the guard. I was hoping and I knew that both Jasper and Peter were too, that Eleazar would shed some light on the others.

But for now we worked with what we had.

I watched as Rose threw Sam over her left shoulder and Jasper elbowed Quil in the rump. Lim had Embry by the scruff of his neck and held him to the ground and pretended to finish him.

I gasped when I looked to where Seth was fighting with Peter and Rennie. They had him cornered, backed up to a huge red limestone boulder. He was growling steadily and the two vampires were advancing towards him menacingly. I knew they were only pretending but the venom in my mouth was becoming a lake as I watched Peter fake left then Seth attempt to rush between them to free himself.

Peter shouldered Seth hard as the wolf launched himself over the two crouching vampires. Seth's yelp made my stomach lurch and I was on my feet and running toward him in half a second as he hit the ground hard. I could hear Jasper calling for me to stop but I couldn't, I had to get to him, I had to protect him. He was already on his feet by the time I got to the affray, but my brain took over and told my limbs what to do. I pushed Seth aside, as big as he was it wasn't easy, and crouched in front of him even though he was nudging me with his huge head and trying to push **me** aside.

"Leave him alone." I hissed at Rennie who immediately retreated, putting his hands palm up in supplication and moving aside, leaving Peter to face us.

"Hey...come on...it's only practise." Peter whispered calmly. He came out of his crouch and also put his palms up.

I was panting and frothing at the mouth but couldn't move, wouldn't move, until Peter had also stepped sideways and out of the fight. "Leave. Him. Alone." I hissed again.

I was aware that my shield had extended itself to encompass Seth. I vaguely recalled having summoned it, a feint recollection that I'd deployed it. Now I could feel it pushing outwards, trying to fold itself down over his furry body to protect us both. But, this being a physical altercation and not a mental attack – and nobody was using a gift against Seth, just brute force – my shield was useless.

When Peter had moved away fully I turned and looked over Seth. He was fine of course, but I had to be sure. Only then did I come fully out of my crouch. I stared into his massive black eyes, his tongue lolling out of his mouth as he panted. I made sure the threat was gone, with one last look to where his attackers were now, and then I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. "Are you okay?" I asked.

To me it sounded as though he laughed but it was just a snorting sound as he threw his head from side to side, me still clinging to it. I let him go and he sat on his back legs. He still towered over me.

Jasper came to stand at my side and he took my hand into his. "They were just pretending Bella." He whispered. I felt the wave of calm spread through me and knew that Jasper was doing it.

I looked at my brother and saw the concern on his face. "I know, I just couldn't help it." I told him quietly. I was beginning to be embarrassed because I'd over reacted.

"You okay Seth?" Jasper asked.

Seth nodded his huge head and let his tongue loll out the side of his mouth again.

"I know he's fine, I really couldn't help it. Sorry Jaz." I whispered.

He kissed me lightly on the cheek and made to walk away. "It's instinctual, to protect your family. You did well." He cocked his head to the side for a second. "You shielded, didn't you? I was trying to calm you down but it just bounced off. Brilliant, little sister." Then he let me go and went back to the assembled group.

I shrugged at Seth who looked as though he was laughing again, his chest rising and falling steadily as I went to stand beside him. I looked to where the others were and noticed that every eye was on us. Lim, Rennie and Dieter were standing, open mouthed, watching us.

Seth must have seen them too because all of a sudden he turned his head to me and licked me, right up the side of my face.

"Ew Seth, gross." I laughed as I wiped his drool off my cheek. "What?" I laughed in the direction of our guests. "He's family." I shrugged and went back to my place with Rose and Jared.

**EPOV**

"What do you mean she got in the middle of Seth's fight?" I roared at Rose.

"I mean what I said Ed, Jesus. Peter and Rennie were in a group with Seth and they were practising the moves Jaz had shown them, just like we were. Bella thought they were ganging up on him, I suppose, it did kinda look that way for a second." She shrugged.

"So, what? Bella left your fight to go and help Seth?" I asked.

"No. God Edward, it wasn't like that. Our group finished our exercise before theirs. Bella was watching them then she just ran over there and told the two men to back off. They did. No harm done." She said.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. Jesus. What if Seth had really felt threatened and had lashed out? What if he lunged and she was in his way? What if she had put herself in between two mature vampires and a volatile young wolf? I crouched down onto my knees and held my head in my hands. Rose knelt beside me and ran a hand softly over my shoulder. "I can't bear it." I told her quietly.

"I know. The thought of it kills me too. But we will win. We have to. We will." She told me. She put a soft kiss on my hair and then she was away, running back towards the big house.

I stayed there, on the ground, for a little while and tried to calm myself down before I went back to the big house. I'd only come down to the cottage to retrieve some notes about shape shifters. I'd met Rose and Maria coming back from the clearing via the river and had read from Rose's thoughts that something out of the ordinary had gone on during practise today.

When I'd gathered myself I dusted off my jeans and pulled my satchel to my side. I walked back to the house slowly, needing the extra few minutes to settle myself down before I saw Bella again. She'd know the instant she saw me that I knew, but my reaction and the way I held myself was going to matter to her, so I worked hard to put on as normal a front as possible.

I went in through the backdoor and grimaced as the thoughts and audible voices of so many vampires and wolves assaulted me. I found Bella by the foot of the staircase as she talked with Leah. I went to her knowing she'd think it odd if I didn't. I wanted to run to her and take her into my arms and up to our suite, but knew that would cause her alarm too. So I settled for going to her side and kissing her at her neck and shoulder as I normally would.

"Hello love." I murmured into her skin.

Leah said hello too and moved away as soon as she could. She didn't want to intrude on our reunion, knowing how shaken Bella had been after the practise today. It seemed it was on everyone's mind.

"Hey baby." Bella whispered in reply to me. She turned and kissed the corner of my mouth softly. She put a hand into my hair and held me for a second, searching my face for traces of upset. "You've heard?" She smiled but it didn't quite reach her eyes. I nodded. "It's nothing and I'm fine." She said this a little more forcefully and I nodded again. "Good." She said, kissed me on the lips and smiled again.

"Good." I echoed, feeling anything but. "We've had word from Randall. The nomads will be here at some point, as well as his sire who's coming all the way from Australia." I told her by way of changing the subject.

"Well then, that should be fun." She giggled.

I raised my eyebrows and sighed. She knew I still had 'issues' with Randall. "Yes, it should be." I laughed in reply. "Nessa is in the pool house with Esme and the Denali girls if you're looking for her." I told her.

"I was. Did you have a nice afternoon?" She asked.

I smiled, really smiled. "We did. We played." I beamed at her and watched as her perfect face lit up.

"Good. I'm glad. Any word from 'Miz' Collins about those contracts?" She said the word 'miz' with obvious distain but my gut was clenching for another reason entirely.

Thoughts of the school had been abandoned the instant Alice dropped the vase. Bella tried to get me to follow things up, to go into the office or to work on my assignments that were due, but I couldn't do it. Not until we were through this, not until the fight was over. Not until I'd driven the Romanian scourge back. Then I'd open my school and get on with my life, if I could.

"Edward?" Bella had stepped closer to me and put a hand on my cheek but I had been lost in thought. "Are you alright darling?" She asked softly.

I turned my lips into her palm and kissed her firmly. "I'm fine love. I'll call Linda tomorrow." I told her and watched her cringe when I called my PA Linda and not Miss Collins. "Mine." I growled quietly into her mouth as I kissed her, reassuring her as I always did that I wanted nothing from Linda other than my reports typed neatly and my office to run smoothly.

"Mine." She whispered and went off to watch Nessa swim.

Whilst I was in the dining room listening to the information from the Chinese about their last altercation with the Romanians the Irish arrived.

Maggie and Garrett seemed as deeply in love as they had been the two times previous that I'd seen them and they were both eager to see Bella and Nessa. I ushered them out into the backyard and they went into the pool house to find them.

Siobhan folded me into a tight hug and whispered how sorry she was that we were once again going to be forced to fight for my girls and then Liam clapped me on the back and told me to stop looking so forlorn and tell him all about our latest troubles.

"We don't know too much yet, Alice can't see an outcome, but we know they are coming, all of them." I cringed at the thought as I told him what I could.

He was soon absorbed into the strategy meeting being held in the dining room as was Marcus when our Italian friends arrived as the night closed in around us.

**BPOV**

Nessa was getting tired but she refused to come out of the water until Seth came to take her out. She was becoming more and more cranky as the days went on. With so many vampires in attendance she felt overwhelmed and put upon that our house and the big house was swamped. She had less and less time with Seth because he had to attend school and then in the evenings she had to share her time with others, not just Seth.

She had begun to defy both myself and Edward at odd times, over silly little things like brushing her teeth or now when I asked her to hop out of the pool for her dinner.

I didn't want to spend what could very well be our last days together arguing, so I let her do as she pleased most of the time. Once all this was over though I'd have to get tough.

The Denali girls had gone back into the house by this point and Esme had gone to sort out accommodations for our latest arrivals. Maggie and Garrett both wanted to cuddle Nessa but she wouldn't come out of the water so I asked them to please go and say their hellos to everyone else and promised that once I managed to extract her, I'd bring her to them.

I was about to take out my cell phone and call the Rez and ask Seth to come early when Nathaniel strode into the pool house and Renesmee bellowed his name.

He hugged me tightly then went to the side of the pool where Nessa was pushing herself up onto her hands to get out. I huffed and shook my head at her defiance, then her compliance, simply because Nathaniel was here!

"Nathaniel!" She bellowed again as he grasped her under her arms and hugged her tightly.

"Renesmee!" He cried in reply.

He swung her around and around and the joy they both got from each other's company was obvious. He kissed her cheek lightly and she giggled at his stubble.

"Have I grown?" She asked cheekily as he put her back onto her feet at the edge of the pool.

"You have. At least two feet since Christmas. And your hair too, at least a foot." He replied, a huge grin on his face. "Have I?" He asked teasingly.

"Turn for me." She twirled her fingers as Nathaniel did as he was bid. "Nope. You're still the same." She giggled.

He scooped her up and swung her around again. "Come on, I think your mother would like you out of the water now and inside for your dinner." He scowled at her playfully and she battered her lashes at him first, then me.

"Okay Nathaniel." She said sweetly, earning another scowl from me.

I threw her towel to him and he wrapped it around her little body then he swung her up onto his shoulders and went out through the doors towards the house.

Unfortunately Seth chose that exact moment to arrive, having run from the Rez and arrived via the back yard.

I heard his soft growl as Nessa and Nathaniel got to the bottom stair at the edge of the decking. I ran to him and put one hand on his shoulder and with the other I waved Nathaniel inside with Nessa. "Come on Seth, let's run a little." I told the trembling boy. It took me another three tries before he relented and turned to follow me to the jetty and on past the tree line into the clearing. He slumped against Edward's misery rock and put his head into his hands. I sat beside him and put my arm around his shoulders. "She didn't ignore you Seth. I honestly don't think she saw you or smelled you, you were down wind." I tried to placate him.

"I know." He said softly.

"I know it's hard but they're friends Seth, we have to let her have friends." I told him, I didn't want to ever share her either, so it was hard to say what I should to him.

"I know." He said again.

I sighed. He didn't want to talk to me about it, that much was obvious. I thought about calling Edward but in the end I just sat quietly with Seth for a few moments more. Eventually I let my arm fall away from his shoulder and I took one of his huge hands into mine, pulling it into my lap. "Do you want me to go?" I asked.

"No." He replied. "Stay."

I squeezed his hand and we sat in silence for a little while. He leaned in and sagged against my body a little. He was so warm, hot really. He'd grown so much. He wasn't a boy anymore, not that he ever really was, but now he was a man. He was easily over six feet and he was closing in fast on Edward's height. He was bigger than Edward though, wider at the shoulders and at his hips. He was so much stronger than he was when we'd first met and I knew that he was mentally stronger too. But even Seth was having problems coping with the knowledge that he was a wanted man. I wanted, so badly, to talk to him about it, to tell him that I didn't blame him. I wondered why I'd never done it, wondered what chance I was waiting for. I might never have a better chance than the one I had right now.

"I'm glad you love her." I whispered and felt him flinch.

"I'm not." He whispered back and then it was my turn to flinch.

"Don't say that." I told him as his trembling began again. "You are more than I could ever hope to have for my daughter Seth. You love her like we do, probably more."

"I do. But I'm sorry I do. If it wasn't for me..." He trailed off and I was glad he did. I didn't want to hear him say the next part.

"Don't say that either. It's not your fault. You haven't done anything wrong. You can't help who you love; I know that better than most." I laughed softly recalling how I'd felt about having fallen in love with a vampire at first. "If this is the end of us Seth then I'm glad she had you at all, I'm glad to have had you in my life." I nudged him in his ribs slightly and waited patiently for him to reply.

He sighed again and sat up a little. He squeezed my hand as it lay in his, "I'm glad to have you too Bell's. We've been here before, hey?"

"Yeah. A couple of times now. Fucking jinx." I nudged him again and he laughed.

"Yeah, fucking jinx." He echoed sadly. "You scared me today." He admitted shyly.

"I was scared for you today."

"You didn't need to be, I can fight you know, I'm not a kid anymore. I'm nearly 16." He said proudly.

"I know. And I know you can fight, but I couldn't help it. I just saw you there, ganged up on, and I saw red. Don't read anything into it. Maybe I should've let them kick your ass, cocky little bastard you are." I laughed teasingly.

He laughed too and he nudged me back. "Yeah, but you love me." He laughed again.

"I do." I whispered, serious again. "I do love you. And I know that Nessa does too, so let's go back hey? No good sitting out here whinging your ass off. Come on."

I stood and he let me drag him to his feet. "I'm not whinging woman. I'll race you. Go." And with that he was gone, like a rocket, through the trees and back towards the house.

I had not a hope in hell of catching him. I was fast but he was much, much faster and always would be. But I'd done my job. I'd snapped him out of his despondency and he was on his way back to Nessa, like he should be.

I walked out of the clearing and strolled back to the big house.

**EPOV**

Each time a group arrived they brought with them a desire to fight and a winning attitude that lifted the spirits of everyone in the house, except for Carlisle.

He grew more and more dejected as the realization that a war was inevitable grew in seriousness and size. Nobody had yet to express a wish to merely defend, they were all coming to stand beside us, not behind us.

That made me feel good but Carlisle slipped slowly into depression as each meeting threw up more instances of a willingness to fight. As the strategies became more likely a reality he retreated more and more into himself.

He spent longer hours at the hospital and even though his shifts were well spaced out he sometimes did not return to the house in between them. Instead preferring to hide in his office with Esme as his only company.

After hearing the story of the Chinese confrontation Carlisle stopped hoping for a non violent resolution. He never voiced this but he couldn't hide his despair from me. Nor could Esme. Their passive natures wouldn't allow them to be too involved in the planning of a wholesale slaughter, on either side of the fence, so they retreated to Carlisle's office for large portions of time.

Their only ray of sunshine was Nessa. When Esme or Carlisle was at the house they were with her, always. No matter what she was doing. If she slept they were there, if she ate they were there. When we took her home or to Renee they went to the hospital. Nobody seemed to notice the pattern, but I did and because of her visions when they left the house, so did Alice.

It made me feel bad about the coming fight. I was ashamed to have been party to instigating it. The notion that I was letting Carlisle down for being part of the planning hurt me badly, but I could see no other way to resolve the problem we faced.

So while Carlisle stepped aside from his role as leader of our coven I stepped up to it.

My brothers began to defer to me during the meetings. Our guests assumed I was standing in for Carlisle and that our theories and strategies were being passed through him and that he was just working hard at the hospital. I told nobody other than Bella what the real situation was and nobody asked.

I'd heard Bella ask Seth to go for a run earlier and I kept an eye on the backdoor for their return, knowing something was afoot.

Seth came right to me when he returned. He came into the dining room and when our eyes met he nodded firmly. '_We're all good, I was being a pussy.' _He told me via his thoughts and I had to work hard to stifle my laugh.

I nodded to him and he went off to find Nessa.

Bella came strolling up the back lawn. I was standing at the dining room windows so I had the perfect view as my perfect wife made her way up the lawn and to the back deck. She spotted me at the window and stopped as she came to the top step. She mouthed 'I love you' and then she came into the house.

She too went to find Nessa and I returned to my meeting.

Emmett took the Irish to their hotel, Jasper took the Germans. Rose showed the Asian group back to their rented house and then it was just us and the Italians and the Denali coven left in the big house for the night.

Tanya and Aro had run off at first dark, nobody minded, they were newly paired and this might be their swansong.

When the family had once again converged on the living room, and Esme and Carlisle had returned from the hospital, we all took up positions on the sofa and on the floor of the living room. Jaz and Alice sat across the ottoman as usual. Rose and Emmett sat on the bottom stair and were deep in conversation about today's fight practise. Carlisle sat in the armchair and Esme perched on the arm.

Irina, Kate and Renata sat on the end of the sofa deep in discussion about what their plans were for after the fight.

Bella sat at my feet, between my knees. Seth sat beside me and beside him sat Nessa and then Nathaniel on the curved part of the sofa.

I was running my fingers through Bella's hair and half listening to Nathaniel telling Nessa about Italy.

Seth was a little put out by the attention the young man was paying Nessa and I wondered if this had been the problem that had prompted the run with Bella earlier in the afternoon.

When Nathaniel began to explain to Nessa how it might be possible that he could come to America to study so they could, maybe, one day, go to school together, Nessa inadvertently turned her back to Seth and began jumping excitedly in her seat. She didn't mean to ignore him and from her thoughts she didn't even realise she'd effectively blocked Seth from the conversation.

Seth got up off the sofa and excused himself, telling me he was going home to the Rez for a sleep and that he'd return tomorrow at some point. I got up and went with him to the front door. "Seth, son, please don't take that personally." I nodded towards Nessa and Nathaniel on the sofa. Seth shrugged but I could tell he was hurt. "Honestly, he's only interesting to her because he can tell her things about herself that we can't, that's all." I tapped my temple to let him know I could read them both and saw nothing other than innocent interest there. I put my hand on his shoulder and felt him trembling. "Are you sure you want to go home, you can stay here."

'_I just want to go home Edward.' _He told me silently and I sighed.

"Okay, text me when you get there, please?" I lifted my eyebrows so he knew I was serious and he nodded slightly.

Without another word, or look to where Nessa was, he slipped out the front door and I heard him phase on the fly as he ran towards the road.

Five minutes later my cell phone chirped his text.

~Home safely. Thanks. Call me when she's ready to see me again. Seth. ~

I sighed when I read it. If it was me I'd feel exactly the same. I took a position just inside the foyer, where I could see the entire living room. I watched as Bella spoke with Renata. She kept a close watch on Nessa and Nessa would meet her mother's eyes over Nathaniel's shoulder every second or third time Bella looked her way. Twice she looked for me, announcing in her thoughts that she hadn't seen her daddy in a few minutes. She turned slightly to her left when she found my scent and I smiled at her as her eyes met mine. She returned to speaking with Nathaniel but the pattern continued. Bella watched Nessa, Nessa watched Bella and every few minutes Nessa looked for me, taking note of where I stood in relation to the room. After the second time this pattern was repeated Nessa registered the absence of Seth. She actually sat higher in her seat and scanned the room for him, asking Nathaniel politely to give her a moment. He smiled when she announced she needed to find Seth and she left him sitting there alone. She came to me and asked where Seth had gone. Her little face fell when I told her he'd gone home for a sleep.

"Okay daddy." Her thoughts were sad but she returned to Nathaniel and told him she was very sorry for being so rude and leaving him alone like that. They soon returned to their conversation but Nessa was much quieter after that.

The instant Nessa yawned Bella was beside me, her hand in mine, asking me to take them home.

I didn't balk. Within minutes we were away, running towards the cottage.

I felt bad for taking Nessa away. She was the focus for everyone. We all had to keep a lid on our fear when Nessa was awake and with us. She was the only relief we got. She became everyone's priority because for the time that we spent with her we were forced to put aside all our fear.

When Nessa was in her bed I made love to my wife in silence. Only after we were spent did we use our connection to put silent voice to our fears.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you have enjoyed this chapter. If you have not, please review and tell me why, I'd love the chance to fix it. **


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48 – Through a Childs Eyes

48.

**BPOV**

Seth didn't arrive at the cottage at his normal time and as I dressed Nessa she too asked where he was.

"I don't know. We'll get daddy to call him soon, find out what's keeping him, alright?" I asked her as I slipped her dress over her head.

When it came down over her I could see the tears forming in her eyes. "He might be cross with me." She hung her head and I wondered if she had worked out that in her eagerness to speak with Nathaniel last night she may have hurt Seth's feelings.

"Why do you think that?" I asked carefully pulling her down onto her bed and into my side.

She hung her head and sighed heavily. "I wanted to talk with Nathaniel; he knows things about me because he's like me. I feel better about being me when I know that the things I do Nathaniel has done too. I think Seth is cross with me because I didn't show him any memories last night, like we always do." She sobbed at the last sentence and my heart clenched for her.

I pulled her to me and hugged her tightly. I knew she was right but I understood why it was so important to her to spend time with Nathaniel too.

I could hear Edward moving around in the living room and knew that he could hear our conversation too. I wondered if he could shed any light on what had gone on last night and why Seth hadn't arrived yet today. "Okay, let me go and talk to daddy a moment. You tidy your room and put your books away and I'll be right back." I kissed her on her head and went to Edward.

He was in the kitchen making Nessa's breakfast. As I approached I could see that he was only making three short strips of bacon and one egg. Seth wouldn't be joining her this morning. I put a hand at the small of his back and he sighed. "If he's not here by the time we go to the big house I'll start phoning around for Sam." He whispered.

I let out a long breath. "Okay." I kissed his shoulder and he went back to turning over the browning bacon. I went back to Nessa's room but, of course, she'd already heard. She was sat on the end of her bed looking very, very sorry for herself. "Come on pretty girl, come and have your breakfast. We'll find him and you can say you're sorry and it will all be alright." I told her, reaching for her hand.

She looked up at me with her huge doe eyes and shook her head. "What if he's still cross with me when the Romninians come to kill us?" She'd pronounced it wrongly but her eyes said it all. She knew it all. "Will he still be cross with me when we get to heaven?" She sobbed.

Edward was there in a heartbeat. He had her around her waist and off the bed in another half a second. "You can't think that way. You can't say that. I won't let that happen Renesmee." He bellowed, startling her and making her cry louder and harder. Edward was frantic, crushing her to him, sobbing into her hair as he rocked back and forth with her in his arms. All I could do was stare. I didn't know how to answer her and I didn't know what to do for Edward. "Bella? Come here love." Edward whispered and I went into his arms too.

He held us both so tightly, all three of us sobbed against the other. The three of us shook with fear and sadness.

**EPOV**

I couldn't handle either of them thinking that way. I wouldn't have it. I held them tightly to me and we stood there, in Nessa's bedroom at the cottage, and I promised them both that I'd protect them. I told them both how much I loved them, how hard I was going to fight for them and for Seth.

After a little while we settled down. After the fear Nessa's words had induced in us we were reluctant let her go, but eventually we did and she sat very quietly and ate her breakfast alone. Her thoughts were only for Seth and for us. She was sorry she'd upset us but she'd wanted to know about heaven. She wanted to know that if the Romninians, as she called them, slaughtered us all would we all be together in heaven. She was most worried that Seth wouldn't be in heaven if he died as a wolf, not as a human, because her Uncle Emmett had once told her that the animals we ate went to animal heaven and she had understood that to be different from 'people heaven'.

Bella had choked her sob back as best she could and we both tried to reassure the little girl that in the very unlikely event that something happened to Seth he would be waiting for her in heaven no matter if he went as a wolf or a human. She was happier after that, less worried anyway.

It somehow made me feel worse. That she knew so much. That she'd heard and understood so much of what was going on around her, despite our attempts to shield her from it.

I wanted to ask Bella if we should just take the chance to tell her everything right now, the right way, so she didn't speculate or misunderstand anything again. But I could tell from Bella's posture and her strained face that now wasn't the time for such discussions.

Instead I told Nessa that we would protect her from whatever came for us, no matter if it was the Romninians or something else in the future, that both her mother and I would always protect her, and Seth, and that she didn't need to worry about heaven or being apart from Seth because I was sure, that everyone was sure, that we'd be fine.

She said thank you to me and I could read from her thoughts that she was thanking me for protecting Seth as well as her.

After that I left Bella to clean our little kitchen while I began trying to find Seth on the Rez. When I failed to find him either with Sam or at his own house I had to tell Nessa that I'd try again a little later on in the day.

It was a very, very quiet walk to the big house that Friday morning.

**BPOV**

The big house was teeming with the news of new arrivals when we got there, late, that morning.

We went in through the back door and were instantly greeted by a very tall, very lean and very loud Australian vampire named Jonathon. He marched right up to me and hugged me!

Edward was growling steadily at my side as the new vampire let me go. "I'm Jonathon. You've gotta be Bella. You've gotta be Nessa and you just have to be Eddie. Randall's told me all about you's." He held his hand out for Edward to shake and I waited for the obligatory 'don't call me Eddie', but it never came. Instead he kept Jonathon's hand in his and growled again. Jonathon laughed and took his hand back. "Yeah, Randall's told me all about you." He nodded at Edward and I couldn't help but giggle.

Edward shot me a 'look' and I stopped laughing. Nessa moved to stand in front of me and she looked up at the towering vampire and smiled widely. "Do you have a pet kangaroo?" She asked in her lilting voice.

The entire room burst into laughter at her precocious question. Jonathon smiled warmly and clapped his hands together. "No, I don't. But my friend Ethan over there had a pet cockatoo once. Go and ask him to show you where it bit his finger off." He laughed again and Nessa gasped.

She looked first to Edward who was silent and scowling, and then to me. I nodded and she ran off to make Ethan's acquaintance. I looked up at Jonathon and he was still smiling. "Thank you." I whispered and he nodded.

"Don't mention it. It's all good. I thought things might be a bit tense when we got here, thought I'd loosen it up a bit." He nodded towards Edward then turned back to me. "You allowed to talk to other blokes or is he gonna growl at me for the next week and a half?"

I looked at Edward who looked black as thunder, just as he always did when I spoke with Randall. I elbowed him in the ribs but he didn't move or say a word. I rolled my eyes. "Of course, I'm allowed to speak to whoever I want. Just like he is." I laughed.

"Good. So, I'm Jonathon, like I said, oh and I'm a water leech, thought I should tell you that straight off. Randall says you're a shield. Pretty cool, never met one of them before. Come and meet my mates. There's Ethan, the one with the missing finger, and that's Melinda. You'll like her, she's new, like you." And then I was whisked off to meet the other two Australians, Ethan and Melinda, leaving Edward to stand and stare at them with ill concealed loathing.

Edward eventually snapped out of his jealous fit when he realised that the Australians weren't hitting on me and that they were just really, really friendly. I wondered if he'd give Randall a break now. Everyone loved the Aussies, instantly. Ethan really did lose a finger to a cockatoo – which I learned was a huge white parrot native to Australia and that they were vicious 'sons of bitches' - and Jonathon was right in that I did like Melinda. It was a novelty for me to meet someone who was actually younger than I was. Not by much though, a few months, but it still felt good to have some seniority, however slim the thread was.

She was a bubbly blonde with a wicked sense of humour and she fit in instantly. Our Rosie and Alice especially liked her and the four of us had a great time laughing and giggling like the school girls we really were.

There was only one tense moment that morning when Jasper asked Jonathon to explain his talent for the assembled group so they could slot him into their strategies.

"Oh right, yeah, I guess I should explain a bit. Well, um, it's pretty simple. Say we're standing around having your average fight and I decide I want to end you, right? I just conjure up some water from the ground, doesn't need to be anything special, just ordinary dirt although it doesn't work if we're standing on ice, weird huh?" His nasal twang was infectious. I could listen to him for hours, even if he was just reading the instructions to my cell phone! "So you're standing there and I get some water out of the ground and when it's pooled at your feet I twist my wrist, like this, and I freeze it, and you, to the spot. Then I knock your block off. Real easy." He finished his story with a dusting of his hands, just like the job was finished.

I shuddered. Renata squeaked in fright.

Jonathon looked around the room at the startled faces and smirked. "Sorry." He shrugged. "But we've come to fight, so I thought you should know."

**EPOV**

I hated Jonathon, I hated Ethan and his bloody missing finger that had enthralled my daughter and I hated Australians. Okay, not all of them, Melinda was sweet and my wife and sisters already adored her. So maybe I was just going to be predisposed to hating Australian males? It was going to be unbearable here when Randall arrived in a few days time.

It was hard to say what I was least looking forward to, Randall arriving or Eleazar. Probably Eleazar.

At midday rumblings were being made to head out for the days fighting lessons. The wolves would meet our group in the clearing, so vampires began running from the house in pairs or threes.

The Australians were eager to learn all they could from Jasper and Peter and also from Lu Hu. Again I was left at the big house with my daughter, Alice, Liam and Tu. Carlisle and Esme headed off to the hospital, as was their routine of late.

Nessa wanted to swim so Alice took her up to her room to get her changed into her swimming things. We were ready to go to the pool house when my cell rang. Bella.

"What's wrong?" I shouted into the little silver phone.

"Nothing, calm down darling." She told me firmly. "Seth's not shown up. Sam says he hasn't seen him and Sue said he left early this morning but he's not anywhere on the Rez. He hasn't phased because Sam can't hear his thoughts." She sounded panicked.

"Okay, leave it with me. I'll find him. I promise. Call back if he turns up there for the lessons."

I snapped my phone shut and went to find Alice. Of course she had no idea where he was, she couldn't see him or anyone at the Rez or in the clearing, but I needed her to watch Nessa while I went to find him. She said she would.

Nessa came to me then. She wrapped her little arms around my legs and with a sad pout she asked me to please find her Sethy and bring him to the big house. I told her I'd do my very best. With a last kiss on her head I ran out into the forest searching for a lost wolf.

I went to the Rez first but got no joy. The scents swirled there, fresh covering old, and there was no discernable scent to follow away from the place. I tried the garage, First Beach, doubled back by the clearing and kept to the trees to see if I could cross his scent there. I couldn't.

I went into town next. I ran behind the shopping strip sticking to the trees that backed onto the one way street. He hadn't been there, at least not in the trees. I walked down the main street at a human pace just to rule out his scent anywhere there. There was nothing. Every few minutes I tried his cell phone, each time I got his voice mail. I left three very concerned messages and then one stern one telling him I was getting pissed off having to search for him and he should just fucking call me back, now. He didn't.

I was considering asking Dieter for his assistance when I crossed Seth's scent on the road leading towards my home. I followed it but instead of turning right to go towards the cottage it lead me to the school grounds and that's where I found him. Sitting in the bleachers at the school, head in hands, sobbing his heart out.

He smelled my approach so he tried his best to hide his tears from me as I made my way up to the top row of seats. "You don't need to go through this alone, son." I said quietly as I reached out a hand to him. He took it, held mine, I felt him shivering. "We're all losing it, it's nothing to be ashamed of." I told him as I read his self loathing in his thoughts.

"I'm so scared. I'm a pussy." He cried, clinging to my hand.

He was so big I often forgot that he was still a boy. He towered over me now, easily six feet five inches in height and his body weight was probably double mine now. He was solid, he was strong and he was sobbing like the child that he was.

I leapt the seat that separated us and took him into my arms. I held him and let him cry as I listened to his thoughts.

"There's no shame in crying Seth. We all would, if we could. Don't think I don't go home to the cottage at night and sob into Bella's shoulder because I fucking do. I know you hear us at night, you have to. They all do, every single one of the group, they all spend their nights terrified Seth. You don't need to go through this alone." I held him tighter and let him cry it out.

Eventually he stilled and calmed. I let him go then and we sat on the bleachers and talked about everything. Right from back at the start. We went over everything. I promised him I was doing everything I could to protect him and he admitted to me that he was scared of the coming fight, that he'd much rather run away with her, with us, if we wanted to go. I told him I wished that was a viable option and explained why it wasn't. He accepted that for what it was, a false hope.

When he was suitably calm I asked him to come home with me. He looked pained and in his thoughts he was thinking how he couldn't handle another night of Nessa ignoring him. "She won't, she's been asking for you all day, she's very sorry for the way she behaved last night. She wants to apologise. Please, come home, let her say she's sorry. Come for Bella and me too, we've been worried too." I threw in for good measure, knowing that if I said Bella was worried he'd come. He did.

The house was once again filled with visitors when we got back there. The fighting lesson was over and I could hear everyone strategising again in the dining room as Seth and I approached from the back yard.

Nessa flew at him and flung herself up into his arms as we came through the back door. "Sethy! My Sethy!" She yelled into his shoulder as he hugged her tight. "I'm so sorry Sethy, I was mean, but I didn't mean to be."

'_Oh thank god...Nessa...thank god...I can't lose you...I love you.' _Seth chanted in his thoughts, all anger and disappointment gone as he held her to him. I had to look away for a moment. Watching their reunion twisted my gut. I'd never heard him say he loved her before. Of course I knew he did. I'd never doubted it. But hearing it destroyed me. Not because I didn't want him to love her, but because they may never get the chance to truly be 'in love' if we failed.

Bella was beside me in a second, her hand sliding into mine. "They'll be fine now. Come away, come on." She tugged me back out the back door and pulled me around the side of the pool house, into the shadows there.

She backed me up until I was up against the windows at the far end of the pool and then she put her fingers into my hair and pulled my mouth down to hers. I let her do it. I needed it.

Her tongue pressed for entry and I parted my lips to allow it. I groaned when her tongue met mine and they began to dance with each other. I slid my arms around her and held her to me tightly.

When the kiss softened and I could pull away slightly I began to whisper against her lips. "I love you Isabella. Thank you for knowing I needed to leave."

She smiled, I could feel the gentle curve of her lips against mine. "You're welcome baby. Everyone's on edge. We can't forget that means Nessa and Seth too. Two more weeks and this will all be over Edward."

"God I hope so." I took her lips again then, losing myself in her warm, wet mouth.

**BPOV**

I knew he was struggling. I could see it on his face and in his eyes as he brought Seth back to our daughter. I'd watched Nessa and Seth's reunion too and I knew how desperately it hurt to see them frantic to be together again.

Her sadness and fear in the cottage this morning had seeped into both Edward and I. I couldn't shake the panic I felt now that I was aware just how much she knew about our situation. She was as frightened for Seth as he was for her. That's why she'd thrown herself at him just now and it was also why he clung to her the way he did. It was why he'd buried his nose into her hair and more than likely had thought something that had made Edward wince.

I'd seen his face as our daughter clutched Seth tightly. I watched the pain in his eyes as Seth had held her to his chest and stroked her hair.

I knew they loved each other, I'd long since come to terms with that, but the agony I felt each time I thought that this might be the end of us all made my knees buckle. If Edward had felt that too, then I knew the anguish he was feeling.

I'd only had Edward for two and a half years myself, it was never going to be enough. If I had him for another hundred it still wouldn't be enough. We had so much to do, so much left to see, so much to do with Nessa. She was only a third of the way through growing herself and I desperately wanted to see her grown and having a life of her own. I wanted her to have the chances I had, to have with Seth what I have with her father.

I poured all this into the kiss as I pressed Edward hard up against the pool house windows. I ground myself into him, I pushed my breasts up against his chest and I pushed my thigh through his legs and rubbed him unashamedly. There was so little time left. I didn't want to waste a single moment. "I need you Edward." I growled into the corner of his mouth.

"The boathouse." He growled in return. He kissed me solidly once more on my mouth and then we were running. Fast. Hand in hand towards the boat shed at the edge of the river.

He snapped the lock on the door and threw it open. He pulled me through it and slammed it shut again with his foot as he pulled me up to his chest. He kissed me then slung me over his back as he took a mighty leap up onto the deck of the boat. He kissed me again as he put me back onto my feet and then he pulled me by the hand again down the little steps and into the cabin.

He threw me down onto the bed and shucked his clothing off. I knew he was only being careful with it because we had to go back to the house, but he was quick all the same. I took the chance and pulled off my jersey and slid my skirt off over my hips. I threw them both on the floor at the side of the bed and reached behind my back for the clasp of my bra. Once I had it off my arms I went to tug my panties off.

"Don't." He growled as he stalked across the bed towards me. I looked up at him, trying to work out why he didn't want me to take them off. His eyes were as black as night, the pupils and irises no different from each other. As he crawled up between my knees he dipped his head and blew his warm breath threw the cotton of my panties and onto my already super heated flesh. I let my head loll back and I sighed. He hooked a finger into the leg of the panties and tugged them aside. He gave me one gigantic lick from bottom to top and then one tiny nip of his teeth on my clit and then he was inside me. He held my panties aside with his finger and pushed himself to the hilt into me. As his lips found mine I groaned in pleasure and felt him shiver.

'_Mine...Bella...mine...'_ He growled in his thoughts. '_This can't be the end...I won't let it be baby... mine...forever, I'm supposed to have you forever...' _He was panicking while he made love to me and I choked back a sob.

He stilled then. Stopped all movement and hovered above me with sad eyes. "It's okay Edward." I whispered.

He withdrew himself from me and let himself fall to my chest. "I'm sorry baby. So sorry." He lost himself in the curve of my throat and I felt him go slack in my arms as he sobbed into my skin.

He didn't need to stay inside me for me to know what the problem was. It was fear. His fear had overwhelmed him just now. It had been bubbling below the surface for weeks and it had finally become too much.

I understood that. I felt it too.

"Shhh. You've nothing to be sorry for my love. Shhh." I ran my fingers through his hair and tried to soothe him as best I could. "It's okay, we'll be okay. There are so many of us Edward, we'll all protect them." I kissed the top of his head and held him tight.

"I can't lose you, I waited so long, and I was so patient." He whimpered against my throat.

"Edward please. Listen to me, I'm not going anywhere, please, listen to me love?" I begged of him when it became apparent that his panic attack wasn't going to subside. I pushed myself up onto my elbows and cradled him in my arms against my chest. "There has to be sixty odd vampires coming to town over the next few days and even if we discount the wolves that's an impressive stand we'll make. It doesn't matter how many the Romanians bring, we'll be ready. We'll fight like there's no tomorrow Edward, we won't let anything happen to the wolves or Nessa. Shhh, it'll be alright, I know it." I kissed his hair and felt him calm slightly.

It may have been false bravado on my behalf, but I owed it to him to be as brave as I could in the coming weeks.

**EPOV**

She did her best to calm me but I was too far gone. The instant I'd gotten inside her my panic had come to the fore and I'd been powerless to stop the horrible thoughts that this might be one of the last times I ever make love to my wife.

I listened to her when she asked me to and I knew, rationally, that we'd make a decent stand, but a big part of me knew the risk we were taking by standing up for ourselves and the wolves.

Part of me knew that the easier route would be to forsake the pack and run, with Nessa, and disavow ourselves of any knowledge of any wolves. I was ashamed to say I'd considered it. I was ashamed to know that my brain had been thinking it even as I watched my daughter and her beloved Seth. What good was having Nessa alive and well though if I doomed her to a life without her mate? I knew just what that felt like, how easy it would be for her to give up if it came to that. She'd not want to live without Seth and I didn't want to watch her have to try.

As I listened to Bella plead with me I let go of the panic and let it fall aside. I had her now, I had Nessa now. We'd fight. We'd fight hard. Even if the Romanians bought fifty we'd fight hard. There had to be twenty of us with gifts, each in their own right able to be of some use, we just had to organise ourselves in such a way that we could defend ourselves and fight off the Romanians at the same time.

All this came to me as I lay there in Bella's arms. It was a revelation wrapped up in a plan.

I got up onto my knees and looked down at the beauty beneath me. "You're right." I kissed her ruby lips and smiled. "You're right. We aren't without defences, we aren't without might. We'll fight so fucking hard they'll wonder what the fuck they've walked into." I bellowed into the night.

Her smile was radiant.

"Welcome back, baby." She crooned and reached for me.

I took her then, again. And it was frantic and passionate and we came with a frenzied roar, together, as we should be.

I welcomed the fight that would once and for all free us from this fear.

**BPOV**

Nobody said anything about our absence but I think Edward copped some shtick silently from Emmett for it. Edward took it well. He laughed a little and allowed Emmett to fist bump him before they both went back to their conversations.

Aro and Edward were locked into a debate about the advantages – and disadvantages – of the vegetarian lifestyles. Aro still didn't sound completely convinced he was up to the job but after a light ribbing from Tanya, during which they kissed passionately right in front of Edward, Aro said he was willing to continue to try. Edward was beaming the whole time.

Emmett was speaking with Dieter about his tracking escapades.

I was sitting between Anna and Siobhan chatting about Nessa's growth and her schooling and was keeping one eye on Edward just in case he broke down again when I saw him stiffen and flare his nostrils. I was about to leap up and ask what the problem was when he smiled. A radiant, full faced smile. He turned then, searched for me in the crowd and when he found me he smiled again. He nodded towards the front door and I watched as Carlisle ushered the Amazon women into the house.

Nessa leapt off the ottoman, dislodging the Xbox controller from Seth's hands, and ran towards Zafrina. The dark skinned vampire wasn't at all surprised or shocked and she bent down to collect the excited little girl in her arms.

"Ahh, precious Renesmee, you have grown. It is good to see you my little friend." She kissed Nessa on her cheek and waited while Nessa returned the gesture. She set Nessa back on her feet then knelt down to Nessa's level. "I hope you've been practising, we'll have a lesson, yes?"

Nessa's teeth emerged with an impish grin as she nodded at the imposing woman. I wondered what it was that Nessa had been practising but was drawn out of my thoughts by Zafrina herself as she pulled me to my feet and hugged me tightly.

"It's so good to see you Zafrina." I told her honestly.

"And you." The giant woman said in her halting English. "It is no good what they wish to do to your family. We will fight." She announced, making Edward beam and Carlisle sigh.

"Thank you." I whispered and squeezed her hand.

Senna and Kachiri came further into the room at Zafrina's urging and soon a loud round of introductions and greetings was had.

By my count that made thirty-six vampires at the house. All willing to fight for my daughter and our wolf friends. With the wolves that was an army of forty-six. Our strength was growing every day.

**EPOV**

As our newest guests came into the house Carlisle slipped away and up into my suite. I stayed in the living room only long enough to greet the three women and then I went to him.

His thoughts were filled with his worries and about the bloodshed that now seemed unavoidable. I wanted to comfort him but he already knew I welcomed the coming fight. I didn't want to disappoint him but I had to do what was right for my family, even though that meant going against what he thought was right for his.

He was right where I thought he'd be, in exactly the position I knew he'd be in. Sitting in Renesmee's rocker with his head in his hands, his thoughts in turmoil.

'_Please don't.' _He thought as I came more fully into the room.

I sat on the window ledge in silence. Every few minutes he sighed. At one point I thought he may be about to speak rather than continue to run through his thoughts silently, but he merely shook his head and sighed again. Esme was beginning to worry about us up here in silence and she was trying to think of a reason to come and check on us. She hoped Alice might be able to shed some light on what was going on, seeing as we were not speaking, but of course with Seth in the room Alice had no hope.

"Esme will come up soon." I told him.

He raised his eyes to meet mine and I could see the sadness in them. He was resigned to what was going to happen but still clinging to the vague hope that it could be resolved without violence. _'They're all so eager to fight.' _He told me mentally, cringing again.

"They are. I'm sorry that hurts you the way it does." I told him honestly.

He nodded minutely but returned his head to his hands. "I can't condone it." He mumbled.

"I know."

"I lived with them for forty years, they are a part of who I am, they taught me to be what I am." He went on. "I might have chosen a different path but I still owe them, I should still be loyal to them. It feels like treason to stand against them." He whispered.

The talking downstairs was a mere whisper now as every mind in the house, including Renesmee's, was trying to concentrate on what Carlisle was saying. Each of them wanted to know why Carlisle felt the way he did, they all hoped to gain a better understanding about why his dislike for violence was as strong as it was.

I wished they could all know him like I did. Know the real man, not the head of a coven or even the surgeon, but the man he was now and the man he was when he first made me. Carlisle's dislike of violence wasn't about the Romanians; it wasn't even about right and wrong. It was about what Carlisle did day in and day out.

Before he was changed he knew he wanted to help people. After he was changed he fought what he was so that he might still be able to do that. It took him half a century to master it, a daily struggle that he relished if it meant he could practise medicine.

He saw the effects of violence every day. In every town we'd ever lived in, in every hospital he'd ever worked in, in every shelter and free clinic he'd ever volunteered in it was the same. Violence bred misery. For the victim, for the perpetrator and for those who had to pick up the pieces. Nobody ever won when violence was involved.

Put simply he didn't want to be a monster.

"If we don't stand against them they will slaughter my child and her mate." I said it very carefully, very firmly.

"I know." He nodded.

"Carlisle, I have stood by your side for a hundred years. **You** made me what I am and I want you to know that the pain you are feeling now I feel too, because it is a type of treason for me to go against you in this. But I have to. We have to. All of us." I pled, I begged for him to stand beside me and protect my family, with me, not for me, but with me.

"What would you have me do Edward? Put aside all that I believe in and condone this fight? For three hundred years I've fought against my nature for destruction. For three hundred years I've worked hard to maintain a peaceful life." He was lost, desperate for answers, desperate for a reason to stand beside me. He couldn't justify this in his mind and could see no way to make good the promises he'd made to himself and to us when he'd changed us. He didn't want to be a monster.

The house was totally silent now. All breath held while we spoke.

I took a deep breath. "If you don't fight there will be no peaceful life to be had, father." I said formally, trying to show him the respect I had for him and for his feelings. He let his hands fall away and he widened his eyes at me as what I'd said seeped into his brain. "The time for passivity has long since passed." I whispered.

"I know." He rasped. "Tell me what you need me to do Edward." He knew he was left with no choice other than to fight, he just didn't want to have to do it. I didn't either, but I'd come to terms with it a lot sooner than he had.

Now it was my turn to open my eyes wide with shock. He was deferring to me? He was asking me what to do? He wanted my guidance?

"I need you to stand beside me as I fight for my child. I want it to be your hand on my shoulder as we face them. I want your allegiance as you have mine, in all things. But most of all I want you to know that I love and respect you and that I am so very sorry that we have to fight at all." I bowed my head and sighed.

He thought about it for a moment and then, as a collective breath was held downstairs he left his chair and came to stand beside me. "It will be my hand at your shoulder, son."

I put my hand on his and squeezed. We'd fight.

**BPOV**

I let out my held breath and slumped back into the sofa. Poor Carlisle. He'd had to give in, give up all his principles, to keep my daughter safe.

I leapt off the seat and went to Nessa. She sat wide eyed on the ottoman, Seth at her feet as they played their video game. I pulled her to her feet, "Come with me please little one." I asked her and she nodded. I think she wanted, or needed, to be with Carlisle as much as I did. "You too Seth, come on." He got to his feet and took my other hand.

We went up to the suite and found them both in Nessa's room. Edward sat on the window seat, his father stood beside him with his hand on Edward's shoulder. They both looked lost. So sad that it had to come to this.

I held back, knowing I wanted to hug them both but not knowing if we should intrude on the moment. Seth knew though, he strode into the room and held his hand out for Carlisle, who took it immediately. Seth looked first at Edward and then back to Carlisle. "Thank you." He whispered.

Carlisle closed his eyes and nodded but said nothing. Seth let his hand go and offered it to Edward, who clasped it tightly and nodded at the boy.

Nessa ran to her grandfather then. She flung herself at his chest and he caught her easily. He did as we all did and buried his nose in her neck and hair. "Are you okay Pa?" She asked as she pulled her face back away from him. She didn't wait for him to answer, she just kissed his cheek and smiled teeth and all. "It's okay you know, my daddy and my Sethy are going to have a big fight with the Romninians but then we'll all be okay again." She looked over Carlisle's shoulder to her father and smiled again. "But if we aren't, that's okay too, because we'll all be together in heaven, right daddy?" She looked to Edward again but he was aghast, mouth hanging open, pain and fear etched onto his normally serene features.

"That's right honey, we'll all be together, no matter what." I told her when I saw that Edward was incapable.

It didn't matter what any of us believed right now, even though I knew that Carlisle himself believed in the existence of heaven. All that mattered was that Renesmee could understand the information given to her and use it to cope. Nothing else mattered. Her safety, her protection, her peace of mind. It's what we all wanted, no matter what.

Carlisle just stared at her. I wish I could've heard his thoughts at that moment and wondered what Edward was hearing. Carlisle kissed Nessa on her cheek and smiled grimly. "You're right sweetheart. We'll fight the nasty Romninians and no matter what we'll be together, even in heaven." He kissed her again and then tucked her back under his chin.

He closed his eyes and rocked her back and forth. I stepped to the side and put my hand in Seth's. He was trembling slightly but I could tell he wasn't upset. It was just the emotion in the room, I felt that too. I pulled him with me as I made my way to where Edward sat. I took his hand in my other one and I stood with my husband and my daughters mate and watched as my sire found comfort in my daughters embrace.

We'd fight.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. The preparations are well under way for the family. **

**If you have enjoyed this chapter please review and let me know, I love hearing your thoughts on the directions I'm heading with it. **

**If you haven't enjoyed it, for whatever reason, please review. Those reviews help me to make the story better too. **


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49 – Fire

49.

**EPOV**

With Carlisle's support I began to relish the arrival of new vampires.

Any information they could share with us, and any gifts or abilities they could lend to us would only help in the fight. We still only had Carlisle's recollections of the makeup of the guard, but we were moving forward with our plans regardless.

The information the Chinese shared was most helpful even though the guard had changed since their last encounter we could still use what they knew to learn how they fought. Even the significant losses the Asians had suffered might be able to be avoided if we knew enough about the Romanian tactics before the fight began.

This became my job.

Whilst Carlisle had pledged his support he was unable to help in this. He'd fight beside me, but the details were too much for him. When it came time he would do as I instructed but he could not bear to be so near when those instructions were being worked out. I understood that.

Once again I was deferred to and assumed the role of leader of our coven in Carlisle's absence. The difference now was that the others looked to me as their leader knowing the reason Carlisle was absent. I was well aware that it was my daughter and her association with the wolves that had brought everybody together and it weighed heavily on my mind and my body as we continued to plan.

I'd managed to speak with almost everyone present, privately, over the preceding few days about their role and how much I appreciated their support. Not one of them mentioned – or thought about – the fact that had I not impregnated Isabella when I did none of us would be facing this fight now. I tried to be gracious and accept their support and encouragement with humility, but it was difficult. The more I was asked to do as leader the more I felt overwhelmed by the task.

This was to be the largest gathering of mature vampires, certainly in my history, but I was told that it would also be the biggest in recent history too. It would eclipse the gathering we'd held for our wedding and would far and away overtake the size of the group we'd had here for the christening.

The excitement in the house grew to fever pitch when the American nomads arrived on Tuesday evening. With the inclusion of Peter into our group our expectations and confidence grew and grew. Coupled with Jasper and Lu Hu the knowledge base was extensive and the strategy meetings became less a panicked defence meeting and more an aggressive proactive one. We had begun to map out who would stand where, who would do what and who would take responsibility for which guard member over the previous days. So when Peter arrived, surveyed our progress to date and declared it 'doable' we relaxed, slightly.

A bigger and bigger group went off to the clearing everyday for their fighting lessons and they came home a more cohesive unit each day too. I still wasn't interested in watching, or having a hand in what they were being taught, but I was pleased with the thoughts I could discern from Bella's group each day. She was doing well and so was Seth.

From what I saw from Alice and from Jasper's thoughts Bella was becoming more and more aggressive on the battle field. Since that first time she'd gotten in the middle of Seth's fight it had happened over and over, not always to protect Seth, but always when she thought someone was being overcome or was unable to protect themselves she stepped in. I was proud of that, that she was strong and had such a well defined protective instinct, but it worried me too. Could I protect her when it came down to it? Would she let me?

I was contemplating this when Randall came to stand by me at the windows in the dining room. We'd just finished our latest strategy meeting but had packed it up when Bella returned with Nessa who'd been with Renee while fight lessons were held.

"She's really something, your bird." He said as he clapped me on the back.

I hated him calling her a 'bird' but said nothing. "You aren't the first to say so." I chuckled.

"I'll bet." He too laughed, but to me it sounded sinister. It always did. "Jono says you've been growling at him for days, I thought now that I was here you'd lay off him and direct some of that my way, eh?"

"I'll see what I can do." I chuckled.

"We'll win, you know." He said quietly.

"I hope so otherwise I've condemned you all." I whispered.

He thought on that for a moment and then huffed. "Nah. Fuck that. They're assholes, both of them. We'll fight hard. I know you think I'm a shit," He chuckled when I nodded, "But I like you lot. You're shit smart and you're loyal. You've got a good thing going here. You work hard, play hard and have a cool family, roots, you know?"

I nodded knowing exactly what he meant. He was thinking about finding somewhere for himself to settle down to. I was ashamed for a split second when I hoped it wouldn't be too close to us here. "I do know. And thanks." I said as graciously as I could. "I think they're worth fighting for."

He clapped me on the back again and chuckled one last time. "They are mate, they are. That's why I'm here." He stepped away from me then and before I had a chance to dig in his head to hear it he was taunting me, "Besides, if you get your block knocked off your yummy missus will need a shoulder to cry on."

He ran then, fast, out the backdoor and into the back yard. When he got to the edge of the pool house he turned back to where I stood staring, seething at him through the windows. He flipped me the bird then kept running for the river. _'Sorry Ed, didn't mean it, but the look on your face was priceless.'_ He was thinking as he took a running leap and then swan dived into the river.

**BPOV**

I heard the conversation and was prepared to step in if Edward lost his temper with Randall. When I saw Randall running I flew into the dining room thinking I'd see a crouched and defensive Edward. Instead he was doubled over barking with laughter!

I ran to him anyway and took his face between my palms. His glorious angels face looked so nice laughing, it had been so long since I'd seen him really let go.

"You heard?" He spat through his laughter.

"I did, cheeky bastard." I laughed too.

Edward wrapped me into his arms and kissed my hair, still chortling. "He is a cheeky bastard but he's got exceptional taste." He kissed me again then let me go, resting his forehead on mine. "Mine." He whispered.

"Mine." I agreed. "Come to the river and swim, please?" I asked. He was about to cry off, I could see it on his face. He'd tell me there was too much still to be done, another meeting he needed to head, another phone call to make or another trip to the Rez to meet with the elders he needed to arrange. I was scowling before he'd decided which reason he'd use. "Everyone is swimming Edward, there are no plans to make that won't wait. Please, swim with us?" I pled.

"Okay." He whispered.

I took his hand and we ran to the river. Everyone cheered when Edward arrived. There were bodies everywhere! All fully clothed and all happy, laughing and splashing with our daughter.

I let Edward's hand go as we neared the end of the jetty. I ran as fast as I could and when I hit the end of the timbered planks I pushed off using my toes and flew above the bobbing heads and then down into the murky depths of the river, fully clothed.

It was wonderfully freeing. As I made the surface there was cheering and more splashing as I was welcomed into the fray.

I turned my attention back to the jetty where Edward was taking off his watch and toeing off his shoes, while Emmett and Peter teased him about being so proper. Once he'd divested himself of his wallet, keys and cell phone he copied me, landing right in front of me and then coming back to the surface right in my face. His smile was glorious.

I flung my arms around him and kissed him soundly, so pleased he'd come for some fun.

Nessa and Seth swam to us amid the catcalls and shouts of 'get a room' and 'let him go, you don't know where he's been'. I laughed so hard when I remembered Emmett saying those exact phrases the very first time I went out with them all as a family. Edward was beaming at me, he remembered too.

"I love you Mrs Cullen." He whispered against my temple as he kissed me lightly.

"As I do you." I replied right before my daughter swam in between us and demanded our attention.

"Race us mommy!" She bellowed.

I smirked at Seth. "You think you can beat me?" I teased him.

"Easy." He shrugged.

"You've got no hope." Edward crowed. "I've tried and failed so many times." He laughed.

"Then let a real man try." Randall shouted from where he was swimming with Tanya and Maggie.

Edward growled softly but was smiling widely. "If you think you can take her on, be my guest." He swept his hand out and away from himself as if to say 'go right ahead' and I returned his smile.

We had all assumed my knack for beating Edward in swimming races was because I had been a newborn whenever we'd raced. Apparently I was just a really good swimmer. He was yet to beat me so I was eager to try my skills against others.

"Bring it." I mocked Randall who looked reluctant after Edward had given his taunt.

"I'm in." Said Seth, who swam to my side.

"Yeah, I'm in too." Called Jonathon as he too swam to my side.

Rennie was smirking as he joined us, "I shall do my best." He smiled.

"How about we just make this a whole lot more interesting?" Called Jasper.

I groaned. By now everyone knew about Jasper's love of a bet, and his impeccable win loss ratio, so I knew this was going to get messy.

"What have you got in mind brother?" Emmett asked as he too lined up.

"My moneys on you sis." Jasper winked at me as he swam further out in front of the fast filling line beside me. He turned and faced us. "A thousand a piece says she can beat every single one of you to the other side, and back. Any takers?" He winked at me again and I hoped he knew what he was doing. I hadn't swum against anyone other than the family so mine was an untested ability.

"Are you sure Jaz?" I asked.

"Never more." He said confidently. "I'm so sure I'm willing to up the ante a little. I'll cover the winnings personally and if someone does happen to beat her they'll get to choose their spot in the line up at the fight, no questions asked." He looked to Edward who seemed to think on it for a second before nodding.

I looked at Edward who was grinning smugly, he thought I could win this.

Maybe I could.

I began to get excited.

All at once there were calls of 'I'm in' and 'I'll take that bet' from all around me as every male in the area made their way back to the jetty and out onto the bank.

"Well Bell's? You willing to take this lot on?" Jasper asked as he swam to my side again. "I know you can do this, you'll kill them." He wound his arm around my waist and squeezed me tight.

"What do I get if I win?" I asked cheekily.

"Ahh, see, that's what I like about you best. You're smart. If you win, little sister, you too get to pick your place in the fight and I'll take care of the munchkin tonight so you and Eddie can, um, slip away." He winked at me and I gasped.

Edward was huffing about being called Eddie again but he didn't argue about the terms, so I agreed.

As I swam towards the bank to take my place at the starting line I called back to Jasper "You're on. If I win I want first crack at the guard."

**EPOV**

I put my head in my hands when she said it.

The idea that she was going to go up against the guard at all crucified me. That she was ready, willing and probably more than a little able to actually do it frightened me to my core.

I was about to call her back and shout to Jasper to pick another prize but it was too late. She was already on the bank and Jasper was already counting down to the start.

I had no doubt she'd win. And it was apparent right from when they all hit the water that she'd do it easily. I attributed my instant erection to the thought of my beautiful wife showing up every single man who was now thinking they could easily beat her.

Even as they swam they were all thinking she'd be easily beaten, that she'd fade, that she'd never be able to out stroke a man.

Nessa clung to my back as we watched her mother obliterate the field of contenders. One by one she left them behind in her wake.

They fell away from her in no particular order that I could discern. Rennie, Peter, Tu, Julian, Marcus and then Jonathon fell by her wayside. Next to go was Emmett then Lu Hu followed by Garrett.

"Go mommy go!" Nessa was squealing as Bella streaked ahead and turned for home.

Only Seth, Dieter and Randall were left in the race and by the time she was within fifty feet of where I bobbed in the water. Seth had dropped off with a curse and Dieter had given up with a loud curse in German.

Bella slapped a hand down on the edge of the jetty to mark her as finished and a full twenty seconds later Randall did the same.

I cringed when I heard what Randall planned to say after his defeat at the hands of my wife, but smiled as good naturedly as I could when he said it.

"It was worth losing just to follow her, mate." He nodded towards me and then turned to Bella. "I'd follow your ass to anywhere at any time missy." He pulled her into him and kissed her on the cheek loudly.

I didn't quite stifle the growl and it was both my wife and daughter who admonished me for it. "Oh daddy, you're silly when you growl at Randall." Ness trilled, making everyone laugh.

Bella swam to me and put her arms around my shoulders. She kicked her legs so that I had my back to the crowd as they stood on the jetty. She kissed me firmly on the lips and when she pulled away she giggled, "Don't growl baby, I've won us a babysitter for tonight and I'm going to let you take me out."

My smile was genuine after that, despite the catcalls.

**BPOV**

Our swimming fun had significantly reduced the tension in and around the big house. We swam for hours, only getting out of the river when night fell because Carlisle and Esme returned from the hospital and Nessa wanted her dinner and a warm bath.

Seth took the opportunity to head home for his dinner and to check in with Sam, the pack and his parents.

All the men were embarrassed to be beaten in races by me, but all the women were more than happy to tease and berate their men about it. A most pleasant afternoon had been had. More races, more teasing, and more growling from my very possessive husband.

Each time I won a race, and subsequently more money for Jasper, Edward pulled me to him with increasing urgency, his erection barely contained in his jeans. With each congratulatory kiss he increased the pressure of his lips and the strength of the embrace.

By the time Jasper arrived to babysit so we could go out we were both a panting and needy mess.

"You earned this little sister, fair and square." He slapped a thick wad of cash down onto my kitchen bench. "They won't want to take you on in a hurry again." He crowed.

I pocketed the cash and moved in to kiss his cheek. "You cleaned up." I giggled.

"I did. I plan to spend the lot on Alice though, does that redeem me and my wicked gambling ways?" He squinted adorably and I couldn't help but giggle again.

"I think we're ready to go. Thanks for this, we need a break." I told him honestly.

Edward came from the back of the cottage then. I had to suck in a hasty breath at the sight of him. Dark wash low slung jeans, dark blue button down with the arms rolled to his elbows. Leather cuff at his wrist, hair an unruly mess. My husband was an Adonis!

He came to where we stood and shook Jasper's hand. "Thanks for this."

Jasper tipped his head. "You are most welcome. I figured you guys could use a bit of a distraction. Been a tense time." He mumbled as Nessa came out of her room with her backpack on.

"Why do you have a bag packed sweetie? Uncle Jasper and Aunty Alice are going to look after you here." I looked to Jasper who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Nope." He said firmly. "Your husband has asked us to take care of her at the big house, so we'll just be heading up there now. You ready little lady?" He bent down to kiss Nessa on top of her head as she began to nod. "You need to come too Bell's." He began chuckling and I looked to Edward.

"Edward?" I asked.

He shook his head minutely and moved towards the front door. "You be good for your Uncle Jaz and don't let him make any bets on you." He laughed. Then he turned to me. He pulled me into his arms and with his gorgeous lopsided grin he told me that he'd be there in a few minutes and I should go with Jaz for now.

"I'll be good daddy." Nessa called as she took Jasper's hand for the short run to the big house.

Jasper held his hand out for me and with one last quick glance at Edward I took it and began to run with he and Nessa.

It was a strange way to begin a date with my husband, leaving him behind.

**EPOV**

She had no idea what I had planned for the evening.

I'd called Jaz and asked him to collect Nessa rather than sit for her at the cottage because I wanted the place to myself, to share with my gorgeous wife of course, for the whole evening.

We could count on one hand the number of opportunities we'd had to be alone there since we were married. I didn't for one moment regret having Nessa, but since she'd been born it was rare that Bella and I got to enjoy our home alone.

Tonight I was determined that we would.

As their thoughts began to drift away I flew around the house making my preparations. I ran to the bathroom and turned the taps on for our tub. I lit the fire in the living room and the dozens of candles on the window sills in our bedroom. I found the playlist I wanted on my iPod and turned it on low. I straightened the covers on our bed and set the overhead lights to low. When the tub was full I lit the candles around it and pulled a stack of towels from the linen closet and put them on the vanity.

Once I was happy with the way the place looked I pulled the door shut behind me and ran towards the big house to call for my date. I ran up the backyard and around the side of the house until I was standing at the front door. I rang the bell and straightened my shirt.

Carlisle answered the door, all smiles. "Good evening, sir." I told him as he reached to shake my hand.

"Good to see you Edward. Bella won't be long, come on in." He was grinning from ear to ear and his thoughts were, for the first time in a long time, jovial. _'You're going to cop some serious ribbing for this Edward.' _He was laughing in his thoughts as a house full of very interested vampires turned their attention to the foyer.

They were all wondering why I had arrived via the front door and why I'd rung the bell when I could simply come in through the back door like everyone else. It was, after all, my home too.

The mental questions came so thick and fast I could only make parts of them out. In the case of the Japanese questions I could only make out certain words.

Around forty-five very nosy vampires began twittering when Bella came down the stairs. I stepped towards the bottom step and held out a hand for her as she came towards me. "You look lovely." I told her before kissing her hand.

She beamed. "Thank you Edward."

"We won't be out late Mr Cullen, I'll have her home before curfew." I chuckled softly.

Carlisle, who'd come to stand beside, began to twitter. "Yes, yes. Be sure that you do, she has school in the morning. Have a nice time you two." He laughed.

Our guests, who had remained conspicuously silent during this exchange, now all began to whisper about what they were seeing. I was sure their speculation and questions would be answered the second Bella and I were away for our 'date' so I wasted no time extracting us from the coming furore.

"Shall we?" I nodded towards the front door and led her to it. When we were through it and standing on the front porch I bent and kissed at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. "Run with me Bella." I whispered, loving the way she shivered as I did.

She squeezed my hand and then we were off, running full tilt around the side of the house and down towards the river.

As predicted the house erupted into a frenzy of questions and speculation the second we hit the yard.

I couldn't have cared less.

**BPOV**

It was the perfect date even if it was held in my own home. It was perfect and so was Edward.

We made love in front of the fire, in our bed and again in the tub. We spent hours devouring each other's bodies and then a few more hours just kissing, touching and whispering. It was a perfect night.

For a few short hours we were able to forget the sword that was dangling over our heads and just be together, in love. It was such a precious thing to have, a few stolen hours alone.

As the dawn crept into the cottage our fear returned, as it always did.

We put the cottage back to rights and then walked, slowly, to the big house to see Nessa and the family. I could almost guarantee that Edward was thinking exactly what I was thinking as we came to the backyard that morning. Please, please don't let that be the last time we'd have each other that way.

There was only a week until April 1st.

Our daughter ran down the stairs to greet us as we entered the living room but I could tell there were new vampires in attendance from their scent alone.

I hugged and kissed Nessa and let her show me her evening briefly before turning back into the room to see who was new.

Carlisle was at my side immediately and as soon as I spotted the four new guests I knew why. The two men were terrifying! I reached for Edward's hand subconsciously which raised a few eyebrows and made Emmett snigger.

"Don't be afraid." Edward whispered as we were brought forward to be introduced.

"Bella, Edward, this is Susan and this is Holly. They are from New Zealand and have come to help us. Ladies, this is my son Edward and my daughter and his mate Bella." Carlisle introduced us and the two women moved forward to shake first my hand then Edward's.

"Hello." I mumbled, never taking my eyes off the men.

"And this is Zuhar and Abel, from Tonga." Carlisle spoke again and again the new guests moved forward.

Edward stepped forward and held out his hand. If he shook their hand I would too. After all, they couldn't be dangerous if Carlisle had asked them into the house. Edward _did_ shake hands with them so I too held out my hand.

The taller of the two men, Zuhar, stepped toward me and held my hand firmly in his. "Mrs Bella, I am Zuhar. Do not be alarmed. My markings are my tribal history, you have nothing to fear." He whispered this so softly, in a voice so opposite to his imposing stature I couldn't help but be calmed.

I smiled and he followed suit.

Abel, when his hand had been released from Edward's, came to me and did the same as his tribesman, taking my hand into his. "Do not be afraid. We have come to fight for your daughter and her mate." He nodded his head once, released my hand and went to stand by his coven mate.

They were formidable. Both of them. They towered over me and were covered from head to foot in black tattoos. They snaked and crisscrossed all over their bodies, over their faces and even into their hair. There were swirled designs on their lips and on the lobes of their ears. Their hair was black and wiry and despite the fact that they were vampires they had dark mahogany skin. They were big men too, solid with massive broad shoulders and huge hands like Emmett's. They scared the shit out of me.

"Show them your ink sissy." Emmett boomed from his place on the ottoman and then he began to laugh.

Edward growled at him but I smiled. "Shut up Emmett." I teased.

"I bet theirs don't do what yours does when you get hor..."

"Emmett Cullen!" Esme was berating him even before he was able to finish his sentence but the damage was done.

Abel once again stepped forward. "You have a tattoo?" He asked quite politely.

"I do." God I wished I was able to blush still. "But it's nothing like yours." I mumbled.

"If your mate would allow it I'd like to see it." Abel asked with a smile, looking to Edward for his accent or denial of the request.

Edward, for his part, simply smiled at me. I guessed that was his way of saying it was up to me. I opened the top button of my jersey and pulled it aside, revealing my meagre tattoo.

"Ahh..." Whispered Abel. "This is customary amongst white Pacific Rim women too. Brand their mates names onto their skin. It is good." He nodded simply and stepped back to stand beside Zuhar.

I sighed in relief, glad he hadn't laughed at my paltry excuse for 'ink'.

"My daddy likes to kiss it." Nessa whispered conspiratorially to the two branded men.

I cringed but Edward guffawed loudly. "Nessa, we've talked about you saying that." He admonished her good naturedly, obviously not bothered by our daughters statement. He turned then and faced the living room. He pointed a finger at Randall and snapped, "But you, you can stop thinking what you're thinking right now." I could tell he was joking around, sort of, but I didn't think Randall thought he was joking judging by the look on his face. "Come inside my new friends, tell us about your covens." Edward ushered the two new groups further into the living room and a discussion was held about Zuhar's ability to control the temperature of water.

**EPOV**

I didn't need to read Bella's mind to know that she had been frightened of the Tongans. They did look very fierce, it was true, but their thoughts were nothing other than friendly. I, of course, had that information available to me instantly, Bella did not.

She stuck to my side as the new arrivals began to tell us of their covens, their homes and their abilities.

It seemed Zuhar was able to freeze or boil water at will. Unlike Jonathon though, Zuhar needed to actually have water to hand in order to control it. Where Jonathon could conjure water from nothing, Zuhar could use it only if it was available. Between them they could work together and this information was noted on our extensive chart. Jasper, in particular, was already thinking through scenarios where the two men could work together to protect us.

I had Bella's hand in mine while we listened. She shivered now and then but seemed to be calming the longer the two men spoke. They both had very soothing voices that did not match their appearances in the least.

Attention began to turn to the two girls from New Zealand. Susan told us that she was a lot older than Holly and that she had turned her herself around forty years ago when she tired of being alone. My thoughts turned to Carlisle and his need for a companion which had ultimately led to myself being turned.

I was a little caught up in those thoughts so had to blink rapidly in order to make sense of what I was seeing before me.

Esme screamed quite loudly and Peter leapt to his feet in front of Charlotte in a defensive pose as Holly seemed to melt away before our eyes. She shivered and shook, not unlike the way the wolves did when they phased, and then she was stood in front of the gathered crowd as her sire, Susan. There were two Susan's.

The original Susan stood where she had been, seemingly unchanged and perfectly normal. "I'm fine." She smiled at us as if it was a natural occurrence to see a clone of herself suddenly appear in front of her own eyes. I guessed, for her, it might have been.

My brain refused to comprehend it and I too slipped into a crouch, pulling Nessa back behind me and Bella beside me to better shield our daughter.

The girl who used to be Holly turned towards us and using the voice she'd had before she had begun to shiver she told me to please not panic, that this was her gift.

She shook all over again and then she stood before us as herself, Holly, once again.

"Holy shit." Esme shouted, quickly covering her mouth with her hand and gaining a loud guffaw from Emmett.

Holly beamed at the crowd of stunned vampires. "I'm a shape shifter, like your wolf friends." She stated simply.

"Holy shit." Esme said again before giggling loudly. "Can you do me next?"

Holly smiled widely, "Sure. I'd love to."

Nessa pushed my knees apart and stuck her head out between them so she could see. We were all totally silent as the tiny blonde girl shivered and shook from head to toe, seeming to fall towards the floor before standing to her full height, shaking once again and morphing into a perfect copy of Esme.

Esme gasped and reached out a tentative hand towards the clone of herself. 'Holly' stepped forward a little and put her hand in Esme's. The real Esme giggled lightly. "Holy shit." She whispered again.

"Naughty Nana-Me." Nessa giggled between my legs. "Can I be next?" She asked as Holly shook off her most recent form and returned to herself once again.

I was about to admonish Nessa for treating our guest as a party trick when Holly herself approached my daughter. She knelt down a little and took Nessa's hand into hers. I read from her thoughts what she was about to say and wished I had Alice' foresight in order to know how Nessa was going to react.

"I'm so sorry little one, I can't turn into you. I can only turn into full vampires, and you're not, are you?" Holly asked.

Bella sucked in a breath, also waiting for Nessa's reaction. I squeezed her hand more tightly and waited for Nessa to form thoughts that would become her words. I relaxed a little when she did.

"No. I'm not full vampire. I'm much more special than that. I'm half human from my mommy, half vampire from my daddy and my mate is a wolf!" She announced with a bright, clear voice.

The room erupted then. She was swept from beneath me by Holly and taken into the centre of the room to be pawed and patted and fawned over, as she usually was in any gathering.

Bella pulled me to her side and stood on tip toe. "She is the very best of us, I love you so much Edward." And with that she kissed me soundly on the lips before skipping away to join the larger group around our daughter.

Carlisle came to me then. He put a hand to my shoulder, "She is the very best of you both. Your army is growing, son." He didn't say it unkindly or in an accusatory way, it was just a simple statement of fact. I didn't miss the inflection of the 'your' at the beginning either.

"I know. Thank god." I told him before settling into a seat on the sofa to watch the goings on.

Two groups arrived together the following day. Our friends Charles, Alistair and Makenna who we knew as the European nomads had invited and travelled with a group of Turkish vampires on their very first trip to the US. The mix was as diverse as could possibly be.

I was surprised to see Alistair as he had already visited for Nessa's christening two years ago. His limit was once a century, so I was intrigued to find out why he'd deemed this trip essential.

"Ah, young Edward, you more so than others know of my mistrust for all things authoritarian. In this case I am sure we are united?" He asked.

I nodded soberly, "Indeed." I agreed.

"Where the Romanians are concerned my mistrust is not misplaced, my view has seen me redeemed in this, and so we fight." He bowed lowly to me and as he came up he looked me in the eye. '_This is a formidable group assembled, you should be proud. I am proud to fight for you.' _He told me through his thoughts.

I wanted, so badly, to tell him not to fight for me, but I couldn't. I needed him to. I needed his assistance as much as I needed the help of every single vampire in the house and those that were still travelling to get to us in time.

"I am proud to have you here Alistair. Thank you." I said, truly humbled.

"I see you are entertaining the Germans already. Good, good, they fight like the bejesus." He chuckled and went to reacquaint himself with Dieter.

"We have new friends." Carlisle announced, effectively cutting off the conversation in the living room and the dining room. "Please welcome Alex, Busra and his mate Mehmet. They've come all the way from Turkey."

Their leader stepped slightly forward and bowed inwards, towards the gathered crowd. "I am Furkan but wish to be called Alex here in America. Alex is a good name, yes?" He beamed as everyone exclaimed what a fine name he'd chosen to 'borrow' for his visit.

I could already hear Emmett cursing, having missed his chance to make Furkan jokes. To him that name was a gold mine! I scowled in his direction but he didn't see, he was too busy trying to work out how many rhyming words he could form from the name. I had to concede he was doing quite well.

I stepped forward and offered my hand to Alex. "I am Edward and my mate Bella is there, with our daughter Nessa. It is a pleasure to meet you." I said sincerely, nodding to where Bella and Nessa sat on the edge of the ottoman while Siobhan braided Nessa's hair.

Alex was nodding wildly. "Yes, yes, you are the one we've come to help. You are Edward, yes. Our friend Alistair has told us of your mate and your child. We will fight hard for you Edward." He nodded throughout the entire speech as if he needed to punctuate how serious he and his coven were about helping us.

"I appreciate that Alex. Thank you." I told him with a nod of my own.

"Charles says your sire has a list of weaponry within the group, yes?" He asked.

I cringed at both the term sire and the word weaponry but nodded all the same. "Yes. Carlisle." I called for my father softly, knowing he'd hear. He came to where we stood talking and nodded to Alex. "Alex has something to add to our list of gifts." I said diplomatically.

Carlisle's eyes lit up at the thought of new gifts and information. "Do tell." He smiled at Alex.

"Perhaps I can show you, it would be much simpler." Without waiting for our answer he simply strode back out the front door, Carlisle and I followed without question.

We stood at the foot of the stairs but Alex continued on into the centre of the driveway. In his thoughts he was searching for a clear patch of earth, I had no idea what for.

Others began to filter outside and stood flanking us on the steps and porch as Alex readied himself for whatever it was he wanted to show us.

I was about to ask him to please begin when a massive ball of flame seemed to spring up from the ground at his feet. He used his hands to push and pull it until it was a ball about the size of a basketball. He pushed it downward so he was able to be seen above it. "I can only do it from solid ground, not sand or road tarmac. But once I have it in my hands I can make it two, I'm not sure what the English word for that is." He shrugged.

"He can clone it." I said, picking the term in Turkish out of his head. "Amazing." I whispered.

There were gasps all around and a few sighs and quite a few shocked yelps as well as we watched him pull the ball of fire into two and then again into four, placing them at his feet on the ground. He stamped three of them out with his booted foot but held the fourth in his hands.

"How long will they stay lit?" Jasper asked. I searched his head to see why this mattered and when I saw the answer I smiled. Jasper was strategising. Alex was going to be his new best friend for a while.

"Until I put them out." Alex grinned. Then he threw the ball of fire into the trees that lined the central part of the driveway. It stayed lit but did not ignite the grass, underbrush or trees. He had perfect control of it. "Or until I'm sure you're dead." He swept his hand in the fires direction and it dimmed then was gone, no trace of it remained.

He grinned again, this time it was a menacing one.

I liked Alex. A lot.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. Please review if you have enjoyed this chapter, I would love to hear what you think. Even if you didn't like it, please let me know so I can review it and fix it. **


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50 – Contingency plans.

50.

**BPOV**

I had no problem telling Edward that Alex scared the shit out of me. It was natural, even as a human, to fear fire but it was doubly so now that I was a vampire. I'd heard the high pitched keening when Laurent had been dismembered and I'd smelled the acrid purple smoke when they'd turned him to ash. I knew to be afraid of fire, I knew that flames would end me, that there could be no putting me back together if fire touched me.

I cringed every time I looked at Alex and shuddered for hours afterwards whenever someone mentioned the astounding display we'd seen in the driveway earlier that day.

We were trying so hard to keep Nessa's days as normal as possible but it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep her separated from talk of the coming war. The meetings became larger, with over fifty vampires in the house all the time she couldn't be kept from it completely.

We did our best to keep the meetings quiet and confined to the dining room, but with more and more information being gathered, and more gifts being added to the arsenal with each new arrival, the group of strategists grew to overflow even the enormous dining room.

With only five days until the war we took her out of school completely. None of us wanted her too far from us, even though we didn't want her to overhear the planning. When it was possible I took her to Renee or to Charlie if he was at home. She swam at First Beach with Sam, Emily and Seth while I went to fight lessons and Edward drew endless lines on his 'war map'.

In the early evenings Nessa and Zafrina went to the cottage to practise. Edward said he could not tell from Zafrina's thoughts what it was Nessa was practising but he was sure it was just a ruse to keep the little girl amused and away from the more strategic discussions being held at the house. I wasn't so sure. Zafrina had taken to pulling me to one side at the end of my fighting lessons to work with me on my shielding abilities.

Each time I went to the clearing I became aware that my shield was not only with me, but that I was able to manipulate it in times of conflict. It often sprang into my visual field if I was defending someone, but rarely when I was the aggressor in Jasper and Peters exercises.

I could call on it quite easily if Seth or another family member was in peril, even though I knew it was just pretend. I could stretch it to accommodate four or five now, no longer hampered by my nerves. To me it was a tangible part of me, like another skin. I felt it, could use it and could project it just as Zafrina had suggested I would be able to years ago.

What neither of us had bargained with was the force with which I could project it and retract it.

Edward said he'd been able to feel my shield creeping down his spine during our one and only practise session after Nessa's christening and I had assumed that he meant it metaphorically. But after one particularly nasty fight lesson I learned that he wasn't just using purple prose.

My group consisted of Emmett, Julian, Adam, Marcus, Ethan and myself. All the groups had been told to face off, three to a side across the clearing. We were supposed to be baddies and goodies just like in a child's game of cops and robbers. I was a goodie this time and I stood with Adam and Emmett to my right.

The other three were supposed to assume aggressive stances and advance on us so that we could each visualise then actualise our enemy's strengths and weaknesses. Julian was my enemy in this scenario.

Now I liked and respected Julian so I found it hard to see him as an enemy but I did my best and squared my shoulders ready for the fight. Adam had Marcus and Emmett had Ethan.

Just as Jasper was about to whistle to begin the exercise I saw Julian cover his mouth and whisper something to his teammates. I shook it off and tried to concentrate on the task at hand. I decided I would shift slightly further left and draw Julian away a little, giving my teammates room to tackle their opponents and also giving myself control of my own situation. I learned from Jasper to attempt to control my own fighting arena. If I controlled that I could dictate the steps within the fight.

The three baddies advanced in a line and I began to creep sideways. For the first few steps Julian followed, mirroring my steps and moving to his right, ready to engage with me. Then he switched and ran at a full sprint towards my teammates, leaving me off to the left with no opponent.

That shocked me and for a millisecond I stood stock still and did nothing. Then my training kicked in and I began to run around the rear of the new confrontation, hoping to come up behind my teammates and take whichever of the three baddies was isolated from the fight. But that didn't work either. Instead Adam dropped back and Emmett was left with three bad guys descending on him. Adam ran away. Just like that. He ran for the hills at a full sprint and I cursed out loud at his retreating back.

Julian came around Emmett's left and began to try to get him to the ground at the same time that Marcus began pushing at Emmett's chest to force him to the ground.

Now, Emmett's a giant of a man. Strong as an ox with a bee in its ass. But even he couldn't hold off three mature vampires and he was soon on the ground, prone and defenceless.

I didn't even have to think about it. My shield struck out from around me with such force it seemed to push Ethan backwards. He landed on his ass on the ground, stunning him for a precious few seconds.

Julian leapt back away from Emmett when my shield had exploded around my brother, but he hadn't stopped his advancement, just changed its direction. Marcus still held Emmett to the ground with a hand to his chest so Julian came to Emmett's other side, his right, furthest away from me, and he too leant over and held Emmett down, his body lying over his legs to stop them thrashing.

Emmett was cursing a blue streak and I knew I had no other option than to deploy my shield differently.

I crouched lower and bit into my bottom lip and steeled myself for the massive wave of energy I'd need to shake them off Emmett.

I felt the roar building in my chest and as my shield built in strength the pressure in my head built to a crescendo. It was as though a switch had been flicked when I released the thin red film of the shield and targeted it onto the two remaining baddies.

Julian bellowed as if he was in pain when the red veil slipped between him and Emmett. He jumped up off him and leapt away to join Ethan to the side of the fray.

That left Marcus. He had Emmett pinned to the ground with his hands so I concentrated my shield on Emmett's chest. It was hard to slip between the two men, they were both so strong and Emmett was actually pushing against Marcus's hands, making the bond where they joined so much tighter and stronger.

I gritted my teeth once more and with one last shriek I forced my shield in between them and pulled Emmett under its protection.

Marcus leapt away as if he'd been burned. His bright red eyes burning into me in frustration as he too moved away from the conflagration.

The instant Emmett was free from them I threw myself down onto his chest and held his face in my hands. "Are you okay?" I shouted, panicked.

He had the biggest dimples showing as he too put his hands to my cheeks. "I'm fucking brilliant, and so are you sissy." He pulled my down onto him and he kissed me soundly right on the lips.

I flew off his chest and wiped my hand across my mouth. "Ew, gross Em, jeez." I giggled. I stumbled as my shield let go and snapped back inside me.

That's when the cheering began.

**EPOV**

"We haven't discussed it." I said firmly.

"Well you're going to have to, you're running out of time." Aro barked. "I don't see you have that many options."

"I know." I ran a hand through my hair and stared at the war map again. No matter where I drew the circle that was to be Nessa it never felt right, never looked right to me. Nowhere was safe.

There was no way to keep her separate from the confrontation and with neither Bella nor I willing to yet discuss what was going to happen on the actual day I was left with no choice but to include Nessa on the map as 'unknown'. I had no idea if Nessa would play a part, but if she could persuade Stefan and Vladimir from their chosen path I wanted her to be able to try. Alice could see nothing other than the Romanians travelling towards us, after that we were on our own. My decisions were quite possibly going to be critical ones.

If we left Nessa somewhere safer than the clearing we'd be leaving her open to attack, without us there, and that was totally unacceptable. I toyed with the idea of her travelling with Renee and Charlie to somewhere neutral until the confrontation was resolved, or finished, but none of us that were strategising could ensure that she'd be safer with only two humans. Each and every scenario we came up with left either Nessa unprotected or alone without either wolf or vampire. I suggested she and Seth should leave, that he should take her far away from here and leave us to fight. But as Emmett had said so long ago, if we did it that way what was to stop any survivors of the fight coming back and slaughtering them later on. Nessa would not be parted from Seth, the original situation would remain and we'd be long gone and unable to defend them a second time.

I couldn't approach Seth about it and I couldn't talk to Bella about it yet. I wondered, so many times, if she had an answer for me. She had so many times before. I clung to that hope and went about my business while she went about her lessons with the larger group.

Half an hour before the lessons were scheduled to end I always made my way to Charlie's house. I kept him abreast of our strategic plans and Renee abreast of simpler plans and ideas we'd been preparing. They had a right to know but it crushed them both to know that after everything we'd been through they might just lose both Bella and Nessa anyway. I was shocked to learn just how much they were hurting knowing they may very well lose me too.

Each day, when it was time for me to leave, Charlie would draw me aside out of hearing range of his wife and beg me to keep his girls safe. He begged me to keep his friends safe. I did my best to explain to him just how many of us there now were, but nothing assuaged his fear. I could sympathise, nothing could fully assuage mine either.

The only time I gave in to it was when I was alone with Bella. She too felt the clawing fear that had crept into all our lives and it was all I could do to calm her at the end of every day so that we could at least rest in each other arms while our daughter slept in the next room.

We made love as soon as Nessa was asleep, every night, but it wasn't the spontaneous wild love we'd made before. Now it had taken on a kind of reverent feel. As though our chances might now be limited. We clung to each other desperately, we loved each other silently, our passion smothered the other until neither of us could handle it any longer and gave in to the need to just scream.

Then we'd run.

Seth stayed with Nessa in the cottage and Bella and I ran.

Some nights we ran all night long. We sprinted in and out of the forest trying to burn off some of the internal rage, the frustration and the fear.

Nothing helped.

Come morning we'd still be afraid. We were always still angry and we were always frustrated at being so fucking blind to any sort of outcome.

But, we were together.

When we arrived at the big house the following morning we were greeted by Benjamin and Tia, our Egyptian friends. Carlisle had already told me that Amun had chosen not to attend and whilst I was disappointed from a strategic point of view – Amun would have made a formidable fighter in our corner – I was glad that Benjamin had defied his maker and had come to help us.

I had hoped for some time, as had Jasper and Peter, that he'd attend and that he'd come to fight. The three of us agreed that he would head us, lead us into the fight, if he was willing of course. He was the strongest of us all.

So it was with real affection that I greeted him and his wife. He drew me into a hearty hug and Tia kissed me on each cheek before wishing us all luck in the days to come. Bella too was greeted warmly and the same good wishes were passed on to her. Nessa was kissed and patted by them both and Tia was particularly enamoured by her pretty hair and cherubic face.

It was too late to express my distaste when Randall leapt from his seat in the dining room and ran to where Bella stood in front of Benjamin. He pulled her into a tight embrace and kissed her soundly on the cheek before exclaiming how happy he was to see her, again. He'd done this the day they'd arrived but it seemed he was quite happy to keep doing it.

I growled, Nessa rolled her eyes just as her mother did, my family and friends laughed at my response and Randall once again was needlessly inappropriate with my wife and got away with it scot free.

At least he had the good grace to look slightly sheepish as he retreated back into the dining room. Bella took my hand and squeezed it but it did little to lighten my mood.

Once everyone had congratulated Randall on his brilliant joke they settled back into the tasks for the day. The men moved into the dining room to stare once again at the war map. Bella and Nessa were swept away upstairs for a debriefing and some 'girl time'.

I tried to get through the meeting with the men as best I could but today my mind was on Bella, Nessa and Seth, not the fight. There was only three days to go and I was beginning to feel the pressure from all sides.

I also wasn't enjoying Randall's constant mental ribbing. He was harmless and his thoughts weren't as vulgar as they normally were so I knew he was tempering them, but they still pissed me off.

Halfway through the mornings meeting I began to hear Nessa protesting about being dressed up and being made to sit still, again, while her hair was braided. I took my chance where I saw it. I called for her and she came running down the stairs. I bore her off to the pool house for a swim, mentally patting myself on the back for having dodged the bullet that was spending any more time with Randall.

Then the men announced that they would keep me company while I watched Nessa swim. So they shifted their conversations – toned down so they could keep the bulk of the information from Nessa – to the pool house and I was treated to three hours of Randall's thoughts.

**BPOV**

We were all surprised and delighted with the arrival of Benjamin and Tia. They were in good spirits and Tia joined in the conversation a lot more than she had on her previous visit. I wondered if that was because Amun had chosen not to come. Benjamin too seemed more confident, more outgoing, more willing to join in than he had on their last visit.

I was happy within the group of women but by mid morning I'd had enough of gossip and fashion magazines. I wanted to be with Nessa and nearer Seth and I needed to be near Edward. I had to touch him. Even just to hold his hand for a few minutes. I needed to calm myself with his scent before I had to leave him for fight lessons in the afternoon. I had to have a hit of his scent.

I excused myself from the group of cackling women and went down to the pool house. I stood off to the side for a few minutes and watched Nessa and Seth as they swam. She was so comfortable with him and he was so respectful of her. He never let her go too far ahead and he never, ever took his eyes off her. Despite the fact that it would be almost impossible for her to drown.

I caught Edward's eye and he smiled softly. I went to him and inhaled deeply as I slid my hand into his at his side. He leant down and kissed my hair. "I needed you, how did you know?" He whispered.

I turned my eyes to his and smiled too. I didn't need to answer. He knew I needed to be near him too and he also knew why.

We stood at the edge of the pool for a while and watched our daughter laugh and play. Just like she should.

Her day was fun and games for now but the time was fast approaching when we were going to have to discuss where she would be and what she would do on the day.

I sighed at the thought and wondered if Edward had had any thoughts on the matter. I squeezed his hand tighter. "A day more, please." He whispered and I wondered for the millionth time if he had been able to read me.

"Another day." I replied.

~~~~~000~~~~~~

"I am Demetri and this is my mate Rose. We are so pleasured to meet you all." His English was fractured but it only added to his overall charm. "These are my coven peoples. Svetlana and Ivana and this is Viktor. We have come to you from Russia." He bowed lowly and Carlisle stepped forward to shake his hand.

"It is a great pleasure to see you again Demetri. Do you recall our meeting in 1716 I believe it was?" He asked and Demetri nodded. "I was alone then, please, come in and meet my family." He led the newcomers into the living room further and pointed in turn to us as we were named. "This is my mate Esme and my children Edward, Bella, Rose, Emmett, Jasper and Alice. And this is our granddaughter Renesmee and her mate Seth. Please, please, come in and meet everyone else."

Viktor made straight for the sofa and that's where he stayed for the duration of the introductions. He never made a sound.

Demetri and Rose went clockwise around the room while the two women went counter clockwise in order to meet everyone. They group was growing fast and we hardly had any time left to learn too much more about our guests, but we did our best to cram in as much as we could.

"We only have a few days before the fight, perhaps you could tell us a little about yourselves?" Jasper asked. I knew he was eager to hear more about this talented group. I was.

"Perhaps we should go outside, there just isn't enough room in here anymore." Esme offered and people began to make their way out onto the decking and into the backyard.

When everyone had found a spot and Nessa had been sent off to her room to play Demetri set about informing us of his talents.

"Carlisle knows of my ability, yes?" Demetri asked as Carlisle nodded. "But for the others, it's not so useful as I might wish." The Russian chuckled. "When I was changed what I could do was of no need, I can cause an EMP when I want it. When Eleazar came for me in 1728 I did not know that I could be useful to Stefan, but now he believes I can be. A great many things now rely on electromagnetic pulses, now I am important." He straightened and squared his shoulders to punctuate how proud he was of that. I'd seen Edward cringe at the sound of Eleazar's name and I knew there were quite a few others around me who would rather not hear it either.

"You did not take up his offer?" Liam asked, referring to Stefan's offer for Demetri to join the Romanian guard.

"I did not. I am a free man. I work for nobody. They want me to cause EMP to harm humans. I need them to feed off, why wipe out my food source?" He scowled as though the thought was utterly ridiculous. "So, I come to America, I fight them, I win, I keep my ability for myself." And with that he nodded firmly once and took a seat next to his mate.

Svetlana and Ivana stood as one and moved to the middle of the makeshift arena. Mine weren't the only eyebrows to raise when Ivana took Svetlana's hand and kissed it. "We are mates." She said proudly. "I was bitten 1906, my sire left me for being the dead, Demetri rescues me and he brings me to Svetlana. I cannot bite humans, how you say in English Sveta?" She asked her mate, but Svetlana could only repeat in Russian what she wanted to say, neither of them knew the correct word.

I looked to Alice, I knew she had Russian on Edward's lessons list for Nessa. True to form she understood and could translate for the two girls. "Inoculate. The word in English is inoculate."

"Ah, yes. Inoculate. I can not bite someone and make them vampire. If I do bite, they can never be turned. Inoculate. Yes. Thank you Alice." Ivana nodded her thanks in Alice' direction as we all mulled over the new information.

"I would love to sit with you at some point and write down how you found this to be true." Carlisle asked politely. Again Ivana nodded.

Then the two girls returned to their seats.

That left Viktor, or so we all thought.

**EPOV**

I could read Viktor as easily as I could all the others, with the exception of my beautiful wife of course. But what I read from him made no sense at all. His thoughts weren't merely jumbled they were disconnected. A word here and there. A feeling then a single word followed by a mental yell. His eyes darted all around him, as though he wasn't quite sure where he was. I had noticed he said nothing and made no move to be introduced when the rest of his coven had done so and I wondered what the old man could tell us for himself, if anything.

"And Viktor?" I asked Demetri who sat beside his Rose.

"Ahh, a very sad case I'm afraid. Our friend Viktor is abandoned also. Very sad." He hung his head and swung it back and forth sadly. "I found him wandering Tikhvin in 1848, very bad sick. Very bad. He couldn't feed, very sickness." He swung his head again. "We think he is around seventy year human, maybe a little more, no way to tell. I am not sure the correct word here, but in Russian it is старческий." He turned to Alice.

"I think that might mean that he was already senile, it's a loose translation anyway." She wrinkled up her eyes in apology.

"Yes, this is it. Senileness." Demetri seemed pleased to have a word to describe it. "He does not get hungry, he does not hunt. He no danger to anyone. His skin has no shining on it, not like ours. He very old."

We all turned to where Viktor sat on the edge of the decking and I could see that it was true, his skin was pale but not sparkling in the sunlight. Wow. "No thirst?" I mumbled to myself. But I wasn't the only one. Various versions of that simple statement rent around the group, all of us wishing that our thirst would abate also.

"Please, don't think this is good thing." Demetri held out his hands as if to stop the speculation going on. "This makes things very hard for me and for Viktor also. He forgets he is Russian. He wears bracelet, his name, my name, his house and street on it. But he not know he Russian, he tell policia that he no speak Russian, while he tell them this in Russian! They think he drunk, or crazy, call me to come collect him. Last time from Siberia, gone two months. Very bad." He shook his head, all the while thinking about the hundreds of times he'd had to rescue or collect his coven mate from authorities all over Europe.

"This is the downside to immortality." Carlisle said quietly, giving us all something to think about.

How do you end the suffering of a loved one when that loved one cannot die?

"We will alert the local police chief Demetri, his name is Charlie Swan, he's a good man, Bella's father." Carlisle nodded towards Bella and Demetri turned to her and smiled his thanks. "I'll make a report at the hospital, in case he wanders off, we'll all watch him."

"Thank you. Thank you." Demetri replied.

The group soon split up into those who were going to the clearing for a fight lesson and those who wished to stay in or around the big house. Most went to the clearing. I'd read a few things about yesterday's session from Emmett's thoughts but hadn't asked Bella about it. If she'd wanted me to know she'd be the one to tell me, I guessed. Since she didn't, I obviously didn't need to know the details.

"Zafrina is going to take Nessa to the cottage while I'm at training. Is that okay with you?" Bella asked me.

I stared at her and wondered what could be happening at the cottage between those too that had Bella so concerned that she asked my advice on it. "It's fine with me." I said tentatively, trying to discern if she wanted me to disallow it on her behalf.

She said nothing more on it. She got onto her toes and kissed me softly at the corner of my mouth. "I'll see you in a few hours then. Love you."

I stood at the dining room windows and watched them all run towards the river and away to the clearing. It was a massive group now and Jasper assured me they were all doing well. Both he and Peter were sure that our strategies would give us at least a fighting chance. I hoped so.

"Come and show Demetri your plans Edward. He has some information on the guard that we didn't know before." Carlisle said as he took his seat at the dining room table.

He'd long since given up any hope that this would end peaceably and had taken his place beside me at the head of these meetings. He never once took over his rightful place as the head of this family however, he simply sat beside me as I'd asked him to do.

I waited the extra few seconds until the thoughts of those going to fight training were lost to me in the thick forest and then I took my seat. I spread the war map out in front of me and let Demetri look over it before I spoke.

"Carlisle has asked that you be placed here." I pointed to a small square on the map with his name written in it and the number 12 next to it. I could see him taking in the spaces on the page and the numbers that corresponded to the names of other vampires. Of course, to Demetri, the numbers meant as little as some of the names did. As a newcomer he hadn't had time to learn about the other gifts at our disposal.

"These numbers, they are the gifts here, in this house?" He asked with wide eyes.

"They are." I told him.

"Oh my god. This is an army. This is not happening before, no? The weather? Su, this vampire can make the weather bad? She will stand beside me? This I will enjoy to be seeing. Yes. I will fight here. This is good. This is army, this is strong. I make EMP, make diversion, get your little girl away from bad people. Yes." He said firmly with a nod of his head.

"Excellent." I told him. "Now, as you can see the other side of the clearing is a little empty. What can you tell us about the Romanians guard?" I asked hopefully.

"I have not been back there since I was asked to join, but I can tell you about the ones that were there then. Eleazar has been back, he will tell you when he gets here. Should be tomorrow or the next day." Demetri stated simply.

Carlisle's eyes flew to my face but I held my anger in check, I was getting fairly good at it by now. Only Bella and Seth could pinpoint when I was in danger of losing control. "Then we'll all look forward to what he can tell us tomorrow." Carlisle said firmly, still keeping his gaze with me.

"This space here will be for Gabriella. She is Vladimir's personal shield. I will write her name here. She is very beautiful but very bad vampire. Likes to play game with her kill. I do not like her very much." Demetri announced and then he wrote her name in the square two spaces down from Vladimir. "This Constantin, Vladimir's guard. He okay. Big man. I not like him, but he okay, much better than Stefan's guard Florin, he's a, how you say in English, ahh, aminal, no, animal. That's it, he is animal." He shuddered as he put a circle around Florins name in the square.

**BPOV**

Nobody had talked to me about yesterday's lesson yet but I really wanted to talk to Jasper about it. I knew it had been a set up and I knew that it had been Zafrina's idea. I just wanted to know if anyone had learned anything about me and my shield from what had happened.

So as we came to the clearing I searched Jasper out. I found him, deep in discussion with Peter about today's lesson.

"I need a minute Jaz." I told him and returned to my group while they set up the exercises.

Once everyone had their instructions he came for me and bore me off to the side. "You did fine." He beamed, knowing what I wanted to talk about.

"I think I did. But what was it you were hoping to see?" I asked.

"We weren't sure, but it was impressive none the less." He chuckled.

I shifted from foot to foot. "What did Zafrina say?"

He smiled wide, "She was very impressed. She asked the three boys involved if they could feel your shield. Only Emmett said he could and only once you slid it in between him and Marcus. They didn't feel it though, your opponents. They just said they felt repelled, as if they couldn't come any closer to either of you. It was pretty good." He chuckled.

"It's no help during the fight though, is it?" I pouted.

"We don't know yet. We're still working on all that." He put his hand on my shoulder but it was no good.

"I'll be relegated to the back of the fight. Shields are useless." I stomped off childishly and rejoined my group.

I slid into the fight between Holly and Aro just in time to be knocked to my ass by Siobhan. She held a hand out to me and I took it, but I just wasn't up for lessons that afternoon.

I sat the next round out and just watched. There were others who sat out too, so I didn't look like an idiot perched on the top of the rocky outcrop to the eastern side of the clearing.

Every now and then Jasper would trot over to me and ask if I was okay or to ask if I wanted to join a different group, but I said no each time.

Leah came and sat by me for a while but she was in her wolf form so conversation was nil, which suited me. Company without having to yak.

Halfway through the lessons I decided I'd take a side trip and ran to let Jasper know that I would be at the school if anyone was looking for me. He said nothing but I could tell he was worried for me. I put my hand in his and squeezed it. "I'm fine, I promise. Just not in the mood for this today. I'll see you at the house later." I kissed his cheek and then ran towards the forest.

Edward was wrong. It wasn't thirty five minutes run to the school, it was twenty five, but maybe I was just very eager to be away from the fighting today?

I slowed as I came to the back of the woods and allowed myself a soft giggle when I passed the spot where the Z4 had died. I walked casually out between the trees and made my way to the front of the administration building. It was Friday so I knew the whole site would be buzzing with activity despite Edward's absence.

I peered into the ground floor classrooms as I made my way along the length of the building and was pleased to see that all was well, as we'd left it. It had been weeks since we'd come here. Edward had promised he would keep up his duties but I knew he hadn't. He'd put it all off telling Linda to do her best without him while he dealt with a family crisis. She was probably happy about that, thinking it was a divorce from me that had kept him away.

I was still grinning smugly to myself when I marched into the outer office to announce my presence to her. She stiffened in her seat and took just slightly too long to plaster the polite smile on her face before she greeted me.

"Mrs Cullen, so nice to see you. Mr Cullen isn't in." She said in a proper voice.

"I know. I'll be in there if you need anything signed. Get me the number for the schools registration board please and then get my father on the line." I said firmly as I strode passed her desk and into Edward's office.

I had an office of my own but no assistant as yet, plus my office was in the other wing of the building, in the teaching part, and it was nowhere near ready to be occupied. Everything I needed today was in Edward's office, if she had a problem with that she didn't say it out loud.

I closed the door behind me and then I took Edward's seat. There was a stack of paperwork with brightly coloured flags all awaiting signature in the centre of his desk, so I busied myself with those while I waited for Miz Collins to complete the tasks I'd set her. There was nothing in the pile that I couldn't sign on behalf of Edward so I signed them all. I didn't bother reading any of it, Edward trusted the woman and I didn't have time to check for myself. I picked up the phone and dialled Felicity downstairs in the reception centre.

"You've got Felicity." She answered.

I had to stifle my laugh. There was no name for the school yet and it ate at Edward that she had to answer the phone this way, but he had procrastinated for over a year as to what to actually call the place so he could hardly berate her for it. "Hi Flick." I said, using her nickname. "It's Bella. Want to come up to Edward's office in say, fifteen minutes?" I asked.

"Sure. I'll see you then, you want coffee?" She asked.

"Yep. Lots of cream." I upheld my end of the illusion and then put the phone back into its cradle.

There was a soft knock at the door and Linda came in. She put a small yellow note onto the centre of the desk and added another three thick files to the pile in the 'in' tray. "That's the number you requested. Your father is out of his office, I've left a message for him to return your call to here. Is there anything else you need Mrs Cullen?" She smiled sweetly but I knew it was as fake as her boobs.

"Yes, there is. These are all signed so you can take these away. I need to speak to my advisor at Peninsula and after Flick leaves I'll need to see Antony. Thanks." I handed her the stack of finished files.

"I don't think Antony is in today." She said.

"Then get him here." I barked.

She huffed lightly, too lowly for a human to hear, but I heard it. I let it slide. I knew I was being bitchy and probably bossier than I needed to be, but I didn't care. I didn't have time for bullshit today, or ever really. I needed things done, now.

The phone began beeping, alerting me to the fact that Linda had either gotten hold of my advisor, or my father was returning my call. "Bella Cullen." I announced when I picked up the handset.

"This is Janette Graham calling from Peninsula College Mrs Cullen. How can I help?" She asked.

Jan was my course advisor, also Emmett's and Alice' in the arts and trades school at the Port Angeles campus of our college. She was very helpful to us all, helped along by huge donations to the faculty and the school itself. We were always in a hurry to get something done and that included our diplomas and degrees. She was nice though and I liked her a lot.

"Hi Jan. Sorry for the short notice but I was wondering if we could have a copy of our results as soon as possible please? The schools registration board is ready to give us our license and we'll need those copies to apply." I told her.

"Sure. I've got them here. But of course you know you all passed." She giggled. "I don't know how you find the time."

"I manage." I said cryptically. "So I'll let Miz Collins know you'll be faxing them through now then?"

"I'll do it right now. Congratulations Bella, you did really well." She rang off then and I picked up the note with the number for the registration board on it.

This could go one of two ways. If I registered the name of the school without consulting Edward and we won the fight he was going to be seriously pissed, and embarrassed. If I picked a name and we lost he'd never know.

I dialled.

"Registrations, to whom can I direct your call?" The drone on the line said.

I looked again to the note, "Gavin Mercer." I said.

"Hold the line please."

A click and then it rang again. After a few seconds I got Gavin. "Licensing and registrations this is Gavin."

"Hi Gavin this is Bella Cullen. We've been speaking with you recently regarding the registration of the school at the Eclipse Industrial site." I told him, hoping he'd remember me and our school.

"Of course, hello Mrs Cullen. What can I do for you today?" He asked politely.

"We are ready to register the name of the school, I was hoping you'd be able to lodge that for me today. Also, our degree records are being faxed over from the college as we speak, so I'll be able to send those on to you so you can get moving on our license." I was practically holding my breath and crossing everything I owned while I waited for his answer to my request.

He thought on it for a moment and I heard him shuffling papers before he returned his attention back to me. "Okay, I have the registration papers here in front of me. If you've decided on a name I can slot that onto the form and get it lodged today."

I sighed in relief. "Excellent. Thanks so much. So it's going to be known as EC College." I told him, again holding my breath.

"Nice ring to it, let me put the phone down a second while I write that here." I heard the phone hit the desk and the scratching of his pen. "Okay, that's fine. I'll lodge that now so that's all done. You now have EC College." He chuckled.

"Excellent. Let me put you on hold and I'll check with my assistant, see if the faxes have come through yet." I put him on hold and dialled Linda. She told me she had all three faxes and she'd wait for the number where to on send them. I disconnected my call to her and reconnected the one to Gavin. "Okay Gavin, if you can give me your fax number I'll be sending our paperwork through in a moment." He quoted the number for me and I wrote it on the top of the yellow note paper. "Is there anything else we need to send you for the license?" I asked.

"No, Mr Cullen has sent me all that I need. It was just those three papers. So I can lodge the license application today too. You're all set. Do you have an opening date?" He asked.

"I do. September first." I told him proudly. I just hoped I was going to be around to see it open and get the chance to work in it myself.

"Great. I'll note that here, that should be fine. It takes around twelve weeks for your license to be approved but that will give you plenty of time before you open."

"Thanks Gavin. I appreciate all you've done for us." He said his goodbye and I replaced the receiver and went out into the outer office again. I handed the note paper back to Linda and asked her to send the faxes to the number printed on it.

Flick came up into the outer office just then so I ushered her into Edward's office and closed the door behind us. She sat opposite and put my coffee mug in the centre of Edward's desk. "Haven't seen you here for a while, everything alright at home Mrs C?" She asked as she stirred her own coffee.

I took a pretend sip of mine and nodded. "Yeah, everything's great. We've got a heap of relatives visiting from overseas, bit hectic, that's all." I waved away her concerns and took out a fat file from the bottom drawer of Edward's desk. "How are enrolments for this September looking?" I asked her as I opened the file.

"Great." She opened her own file and slid it across the desk so I could see the numbers for myself. "Does this mean that we **are **actually opening this September then?"

I could tell she was excited. She was as eager to get things going as Edward and I had been before we'd learned of the Romanians intentions. "It does. September first will be the first day. I've just lodged the registration papers and the license documents. It's really going to happen Flick." I said, catching her excitement.

She clapped her hands just like Alice would have. "Oh that's so exciting. Oh, wait, you've given it a name?" She asked.

"I have. We're going to be known as the EC College. What do you think?" I screwed up my face as if I was worried what it sounded like.

"Oh wow, that's fantastic. Is that, like, Edward Cullen College then? That's so brilliant." She ploughed on as if I wasn't there so I knew she liked it. "Hello, you've reached EC College, Felicity speaking. Yeah, that's awesome." She reverted, slightly, to the Flick I remembered from the estate agency. She must have realised it too because she suddenly sat straighter in her chair and smiled demurely. "It's a great name Mrs C. Very classy."

"I'm glad you think so. So, what I need you to do is this." I spent the next half an hour showing Flick the classes we'd definitely be running and the numbers she could enrol for the first intakes. I gave her information about marketing, publicity and also some information about the teachers I had just authorised to be employed. We'd already done the interviewing so all that had to be done was to confirm their acceptance. Flick, as the enrolments officer, would take care of all that now.

The phone beside me beeped, announcing a call being transferred from Linda to me, so Flick grabbed up the files off the desk and mouthed that she'd be downstairs if I needed anything else. I smiled and mouthed my goodbye then took up the phone.

"I have your father on the line Mrs Cullen." Linda announced.

"Put him through, thank you." She rang off, then a click, and then I had Charlie. "Hi dad."

"What's wrong?" He was panicked, I could hear it in his voice.

"Nothing dad, calm down. I'm at the school working, everything's fine. How are you and mom?" I asked.

"We're fine. What's happening with the fight? Where's Nessa, where's Edward?" He was really worried, poor man.

"Dad, I promise, everything's fine. We've got a few days yet, you know that. Nessa is at home with Zafrina and Edward is having his war meeting. I'm just here clearing up a few things. Really, we're ok. Listen, Edward and I need to see you before Sunday, do you think you could both come to the cottage tonight?" I asked hesitantly.

"Of course we can. What time? Do you need us to do something, bring something?" He was speaking so quickly and I knew it was fear.

"No dad, just you and mom. Come after your dinner, we'll be there. Listen dad, my next appointment is here, I'll see you tonight, okay?" I waited until he said he'd be there and then I hung up. "Come on in Antony." I called.

Stunning as ever he loped into the room and stood opposite the desk until I offered my hand across it. He shook it and greeted me politely before sitting in the chair and opening his diary, ready to work. "What do you need Mrs Cullen?" He asked, all business.

I leaned back in my own seat and steepled my hands under my chin as I'd seen Carlisle do a hundred times. "I have a question for you Antony. Have you ever considered running a school?"

His eyes flew open wide and I could see the shock on his face as he tried to find the answer he thought I was waiting to hear. "I don't think I know quite what you mean Mrs Cullen." He said noncommittally.

I laughed. "Please, call me Bella. Antony, I'm going to tell you a story and then I'll ask the question again." I trusted Antony. He worked hard and he'd never given me any reason to think I couldn't. I needed someone to know what was going on and I needed someone who knew about the school who could help those we left behind to run it.

I had no intention of telling him I was a vampire and that I was facing a vampire war in two days time, but I did intend to tell him that should Edward and I perish, ever, that there were certain things we needed him to do and that one of those was to take over the role of CEO and make sure our school opened.

"Okay." He said hesitantly. "I'm listening."

"Once upon a time there was this school..."

* * *

**A/N: I apologise to all the Vampire Academy lovers out there for the inclusion of a pairing named Demetri and Rose, when building my army of vampires I enlisted the help of my 16 year old daughter, so three guesses as to who named this pair!**

**As ever, if you have enjoyed this chapter please review. It has felt a little like a consolidation chapter this one, and the next one, as though I was just wading through all the new information in order to get to the fight. If it has come across this way I am sorry, and please know that I wrote then rewrote this chapter three times trying to decide how best to include the new covens without it feelings like you are reading an encyclopedia or who's who. **

**Thank you so much for reading. **


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51 – The War Map – Part 1

51.

**EPOV**

I was getting antsy waiting for Bella to return from fight practise. Small groups had been returning for hours, but still she didn't come. Jasper and Peter were not back so I assumed she was with them in the clearing still.

The sun had set and covens were beginning to go off to their hotels and rented houses for the evening. This was happening earlier and earlier as the days went on. Couples were eager to spend as much time alone as they could and covens retreated to their own spaces to simply have the time they needed to say their goodbyes and make their own plans.

Nessa was still at the cottage with Zafrina and I desperately wanted to know what they were doing down there. I was about to excuse myself from the big house and go down to find out when a car pulled up in the driveway.

New vampires.

Unexpected ones.

Everyone that was left in the house tensed. All thoughts turned to who the new arrivals could be. My only thought was to make sure that the thoughts I could hear, and the scents that now came to my nose as they alighted from the vehicle, were not those of Eleazar and Carmen. They were not.

Carlisle opened the front door tentatively. He was greeted by two bronze skinned vampires and a female that smelled a little as Renesmee did.

"I am Samuel. I come to you from Brazil. This is my mate Beatriz and my daughter Angelica." The striking vampire announced.

"Come in, come in." Carlisle ushered our new guests inside and then turned to the young woman at the rear of the trio. He extended his hand to her and she shook it eagerly. "Angelica? Could you be the Angelica we heard of two years ago? Your mother was human, yes?" Carlisle asked.

Angelica bowed her head and sighed before whispering her answer. "Yes. My mother, Mariana, passed on when I was born, she was human."

Carlisle took her hand again and patted it tenderly. "I am so sorry for your loss. Please, come in and meet my family and our friends." He turned back to face the room and loud and enthusiastic introductions were held.

I took particular note of Nathaniel's reaction to Angelica. It was as I thought it would be. He was stunned and not a little nervous to meet the only other fully grown hybrid we'd ever heard of. His smile as he shook her hand was tentative but interested all the same. Hers was a mirror of his, a mix of curiosity and instant attraction. She was aware that he was as she was, part human.

Marcus came to stand by me after the introductions were concluded. "Well?" He asked cryptically. Silently he was asking me what Nathaniel was thinking, wanting to know if what he could see passing between his young coven mate and the new girl was real.

"Well." I echoed, a sly smile on my face. I knew what each of them was thinking, of course, but I figured nobody would need to be a mind reader to work out what each of them was feeling. The energy that passed between them in those few silent moments was not only palpable but the frisson of mate meeting mate for the first time sparked off them equally. Jasper was grinning stupidly and I searched his mind for confirmation of the connection that had just been formed in front of us. Jasper nodded at me and smiled again. He'd felt it. I read it.

"Indeed." He agreed, a wide smile breaking out across his face too as we watched Nathaniel lead Angelica out the backdoor and out onto the decking. I smiled happily for the first time in days, other than at Bella or my daughter, as Nathaniel took the first tentative steps to introduce himself to Angelica. Everyone in the house knew already, even though I was the only one with proof other than Jasper, that Nathaniel had just met his mate. Angelica, too, was coming to that realization as she took his hand into hers and felt the icy cold sting of desire flame between her skin and his.

I did my best to leave their heads and let them have each other for as long as that might turn out to be. I turned my attention back to the task at hand and moved into the dining room to spread the war map back out on the table. When Jasper led Samuel in, as I knew he would, we began to construct a plan to include both he and his mate into the plan.

**BPOV**

It was already dark by the time I made it back to the big house that day. Antony had taken the 'story' well. In the end I told him a very basic contingency plan and asked that if anything ever happened to Edward or I would he be willing to take over the day to day running of the school in our absence. He'd been shocked at first but had agreed after I ran through how it would work.

After he left to go back to his office I called Linda back in and outlined what she needed to do over the coming days and weeks. I told her that if she didn't hear from Edward or myself that she was to do whatever Antony told her to do as he would be acting on our behalf. I could tell she wanted to ask where we'd be, but I just wasn't in the mood to explain to her, so I didn't.

I went by Felicity's office on my way out and found her knee deep in enrolment forms. She was happily making calls to excited parents and children letting them know they had been accepted and could start on September first.

I said a quick goodbye and casually walked out the front door and around the side of the building. I broke into a run in the spot where the Z4 met its end and hoped that it wasn't going to be the last time I laid eyes on the school and the people in it.

How angry Edward was going to be with me I didn't know, so I decided not to tell him too much. If we lost it wouldn't matter anyway. If we won he'd probably forgive me.

As I ran from the jetty I could smell a familiar type of scent. But there were two, crossed over each other, as two hybrids sat on the decking. Nathaniel had his hand in the lap of a dark haired girl and they were whispering furiously back and forth between them. The scene looked so intimate I almost didn't want to interrupt. But I had to if I was going to enter via the backdoor.

Nathaniel looked up as I approached. "Come Bella, meet Angelica." He stood to make the introduction. "This is Edward's wife, Bella, Nessa's mother." He said proudly.

I was trying desperately to place where I knew the name Angelica from, it sounded so familiar to me but I knew I'd never met this girl before. "Nice to meet you Angelica." I said tentatively as we shook hands.

"So nice to meet you Bella. I am looking forward to meeting your little girl." She said quietly.

I looked to Nathaniel who was beaming like an idiot over something. Edward came out onto the deck then, and straight to my side. He buried his nose in my neck and kissed my shoulder. "Where have you been?" He asked in a panicked voice. He didn't wait for my answer though. "This is the young lady Carlisle told us about when we were expecting Renesmee. Her father and his new mate are inside. Come and meet them, then we need to be away to the cottage."

"Of course. I remember now. Angelica. It's so great to see you. I've heard so much about you!" I told the wide eyed girl. "We'll talk tomorrow, alright?" I asked her and she nodded. Edward dragged me inside then, almost rudely.

A hasty introduction was made for me with Samuel and Beatriz and then Edward announced we'd be at the cottage for the night and that we'd be back at first light.

My parents arrived just as we were about to leave so it was a slow walk as the four of us made our way to the cottage. My parents didn't come to our home often, it was difficult for them to find and with no road or driveway they had to walk the two miles in and back out. But tonight they seemed happy to make the trek.

Seth was with Zafrina and Nessa when we got there. Zafrina excused herself and ran off to join her coven mates at their rental property in town.

Edward offered my parents coffee and set about making it while I called for Nessa to come and see her grandparents.

Nessa came running from her room and launched herself at my father as he sat on the sofa. She showed him a few things he'd not seen from the past few days and then she repeated the scene with my mother.

While Nessa was no different than she was any other day the rest of us, the humans included, were very subdued. The heaviness of the situation weighed on us all equally. A thin veil of fear cloaked the cottage.

After her memories were shared Seth took Nessa off to her room to play and read. I thanked him and he winked as he said no problem. He'd probably guessed if I'd invited my parents it was so that we could talk about important things. Edward had guessed that too.

He set my father's coffee on the table and took a place on the piano bench. He pulled me down so that I was sat on the rug at his feet. His fingers were in my hair instantly. "Why don't you start Bella?" He asked.

I tilted my head back and smiled at him, silently thanking him for understanding that I needed to say a few things before Sunday. I spent the next hour and a half explaining all the plans I'd made at the school and with Antony. I didn't stop to find out if Edward was cross, I just ploughed on and explained to my parents that should things not turn out as we hoped on Sunday that they, as well as Sue and Harry, were going to be left the school, but that Antony was well equipped to actually run it. Edward tensed and stiffened now and then during my explanations but said nothing.

My parents had protested loudly, saying that they were sure everything was going to be fine and there was no need to make such contingency plans. Edward agreed and I tried my best to chime in with my own assurances, but nobody sounded very confident.

Next we talked about how Charlie should handle the situation, being the police chief, if nine inhabitants – several of which were very prominent and very public members of this family – suddenly disappeared. Edward talked with him about how to handle that and also explained the plans the family had made for their exit from Forks. Legally, as far as the law was concerned anyway, we'd packed up and moved to Nebraska so that Carlisle could take up a residency at a hospital there. There was paperwork and documents to support this should Charlie need it.

Edward went to the study and came back with his current journal. He laid it on the coffee table and told my father to please take it home with him, that there were letters in the cover from both himself and from me and that everything was arranged to transfer all that we owned into his name come Monday should the worst happen.

My mother cried then. I hugged her and sobbed against her shoulder but it gave neither of us any relief. The swelling fear in us all made every word we spoke so much more important than normal.

Edward asked my father to take Renee home when it began to upset Nessa that we were all crying and talking about such awful things. Nessa would go to Charlie and Renee in the morning while the last of the strategy meetings was held. That was going to be their last chance to see all of us before the fight and it was going to be agonising to have to say goodbye.

Edward walked my parents to the big house and saw them off from there. By the time he'd run home Nessa was sound asleep in her bed and Seth was snoring on the futon in the living room.

I expected him to ask me about the plans I'd made at the school but he said nothing. He swept me up into his arms and walked us both into the bedroom.

As he laid me down onto the bed I began to ask if he was alright, but he silenced me with his mouth. Each time I tried to speak he shushed me. Half a second before he entered me he pled for one more normal night.

**EPOV**

Saturday's sunshine crept through the drapes into our bedroom and Nessa's, waking her earlier than usual. Nobody wanted to be up and about that day and I didn't need to be able to read minds to know it. This was our last day as a family, like this anyway.

I had no doubt that even if we survived what tomorrow would bring we'd be changed, different in ways that I could only imagine. I was one night away from leading sixty vampires into a war I had no idea if we could win. Either way I'd never be the same again.

I rolled onto my side and took Bella's face into the palms of my hands. She smiled weakly, we'd been silent all evening and that would carry on into this morning. Everything that needed to be said between us was done via our connection while our bodies were joined. All else was futile and too heartbreaking to put voice to.

I kissed her softly then went to see to Nessa. I got her clothes laid out for her and when she returned from brushing her teeth and combing her hair she slipped on the pretty pink party frock and the ballet slippers she preferred before we both went out to greet the day and Seth.

He sat silently at the kitchen table, waiting for Nessa before they both tucked into the bacon and eggs Bella had cooked for them.

'_Can I go with her to Charlies?' _Seth asked me in his thoughts while he chewed his bacon.

I was as discreet as I could be when I shook my head. I knew he understood why he had to be at the meeting today, but I really felt for him. He wanted to be with Nessa, I understood that. I wanted to be with Bella too, alone somewhere for the whole day. But we each had a role to play tomorrow and this would be our last chance to ask any questions, to practise our individual tasks, to strategise and to say what we each needed to say. He had to be there for that.

It was a very subdued walk to the big house that morning. It was only just seven but already it was buzzing with activity.

Nathaniel and Angelica were once again on the decking, sitting side by side, Nathaniel's hand in hers and then both tucked into his lap. Already, in one evening, they'd formed a bond and had come to an understanding. From their thoughts I knew that Nathaniel and Angelica would be together, from now on, if we survived. They'd found in each other something that had been missing from all their previous attempts at relationships. A likeness, a sense of same, like the puzzle suddenly made sense. It wasn't love, yet, but it soon would be.

Nessa stood at the foot of the back stairs and stared. She tipped her head to one side and tried to make sense of what she was seeing. She'd never seen another hybrid other than Nathaniel and certainly not another female one. Her thoughts were intrigued, interested to learn from this girl what she could. I had imagined she might have felt threatened, jealous even, but she wasn't. Not at all.

She let go of my hand and went to them. She stood in front of Nathaniel and smiled her usual smile at Angelica. "Hello. I'm Nessa. Are you like me too?" She asked in the childish voice that didn't quite fit her overly intelligent mind yet.

Angelica smiled warmly and took her hand back from Nathaniel's. "I am. Hello. I am Angelica. It's nice to meet you Nessa." The girl replied.

Nessa looked from Angelica to Nathaniel then to me. I smiled to let her know everything was alright and she had nothing to fear. Then she moved between the two adults and climbed up into Angelica's lap. There she perched, smiling all the while, and began to ask her questions.

Bella giggled lightly and the three of us went into the house and left them to come to grips with the newest member of their very exclusive group.

Seth didn't blink this time though. He left her there, knowing she needed to find out all she could about Angelica while she had the chance. Our chances were fast running out, he knew that too, and so he came inside with us and began the tasks for the day.

Bella went to the kitchen and took the keys to the Guardian off the board. She slipped them into the pocket of her jeans. When Nessa was ready she'd take her to Charlie's for the day and we could then begin the long process of working out how our day was likely to unfold on Sunday.

I watched her go up the stairs to join the women who were in Esme's studio high up in the top of the house. They were all talking in hushed tones about how to conduct themselves tomorrow in front of my child. I wanted to thank them for their foresight but knew I was expected in the dining room.

Though the house was already crowded it was to get worse as the morning wore on. Even with Nessa away to Charlie's by nine o'clock, and there were only half of our guests in the house, it was still felt very full and very tense.

A large group came running up the backyard from the direction of town. These were some of the guests who had been staying in the hotels, the Germans, the Irish, the American nomads and the Egyptians. A smaller group came into view a few minutes later. The Australians, Tongans and New Zealanders made a loud and boisterous entry as they too joined the throng in the house.

Viktor was upstairs watching television in our suite and was checked on periodically by both Carlisle and Demetri. So far he'd not managed to slip by anyone, but he kept trying none the less.

Not long after Bella returned from delivering Nessa to her grandparents we had another coven arrive. Liam leapt off the sofa and greeted the four vampires on our doorstep warmly.

After greeting each one he led the whole group into the living room and introduced them as his 'English friends.' They were Charles, Olivia, Zara and Imogen. They were very polite and very proper vampires. They were quiet and stayed to the fringes of the gathering as though they were merely observers.

After speaking with Imogen it turned out that was exactly what they were. They were the first coven to come to watch only, not to fight. They were of the opinion that they had nothing to gain from fighting, so they would stay to the rear of the conflict and observe only. If they were called upon to voice an opinion they would simply leave.

Emmett was appalled but Carlisle convinced him it was reasonable and that we should all respect their decision. After all, it had been Emmett's idea to inform as many covens as we could find and give them the option. Even Emmett had to concede that.

Imogen had a strange ability that was an odd mixture of what Jasper and I could do. She could reach into a human brain and ask them to follow her instructions. She said she could not make them do anything they wouldn't normally want to do of their own accord, but she could guide them into doing what she wished for them to do, at her will. Jasper was intrigued right up until the point where he found out they hadn't come to fight. After that her gift was useless to him from a strategic point of view and he left them to their own devices and returned to the meeting in the dining room.

While Nessa was otherwise engaged we decided, mainly because we didn't fit in the house anymore, that we'd move our meeting to the actual clearing. We could walk through our plans there and everyone would get a feel for the terrain and also the entry and exit points. Small groups began to make their way there, the family being the last to leave the big house and make the run into the forest.

Everyone was nervous. Everyone was tense. Tensions were reaching boiling point because there was so much riding on our preparedness. Mate was eager to protect mate and coven to protect coven even though we may have placed certain people a long ways away from their loved ones during the conflict.

After two weeks of studying the war map most of our groups knew where they were expected to be and when. It was intimidating to see them all in formation for the first time. I stood in front of the finished grouping and gasped at the size of the army we'd raised. It was staggering. At a glance we had seven long rows of mature vampires and wolves all standing at attention on the south side of the clearing that morning. At the back, towards a rocky outcrop, stood the group who'd play no part. The four from the English coven, Angelica, Nathaniel and Viktor. But in the centre of the field, ready to face off against the now empty northern side, stood my friends and family. All gathered to fight for my child, her mate and our friends the wolves.

Jasper was working hard to help me through this. He stood on my left and Peter on my right, but I could feel Jasper working on me, trying to calm me as I looked over the assembled crowd. They were all perfectly silent, all waiting for my instructions, all eager to try out their, in most cases, new found fighting prowess.

"It's alright brother. This is what we've been working towards." Jasper put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed gently. "We've been over this, you know what to do, what to say. All you have to do is take a deep breath and say it. They've all made their own choices, their own decision to be here. We're with you." He told me quietly.

I glanced toward him and saw and heard the unwavering support and encouragement within him. I turned to Peter and he too was waiting for me to run through my instructions.

Even though I knew this was just a practise it felt so overwhelmingly frightening to even be contemplating this. Maybe we should just leave? Maybe we should just run? If Bella and I could outrun the Romanians even for a few years, give Nessa a chance to grow a little more, maybe we'd stand a better chance?

Seth trotted out from between Carlisle and Benjamin and came to a stop in front of me. He lowered himself to the ground, his huge head dipped. '_Walk us through this Edward. We're ready. We'll fight. We'll win if we work hard and stick to your plan. Lead us.' _He stared into my eyes and then he returned to his place in the formation.

"Let's do this Edward." Peter whispered.

Jasper dropped his hand from my shoulder and I took a small step forward.

With one last steadying breath I faced our assembled army for the first time. "Thank you all." It came out as a choked sob but I fought for control of my emotions as all the thoughts of the group hit me at once. Sympathy mixed with encouragement.

I squared my shoulders and looked along the front rank. "Alistair, you swap with Leah just in case you need to be closer to the wolves than to me." They swapped and I looked further along the line. "Sam, you keep a good clear line of sight on Jane. If she moves, or makes a move, you need to tell me. Paul you stay at his flank, if Jane even twitches a finger you cover his back." The two enormous wolves closed up their ranks and Paul dropped back to cover Sam better. "Jasper and Peter will be there beside you tomorrow Seth, you need to stay behind Carlisle though, I don't want you rushing forward when Stefan begins his rant. You know he'll try to provoke you, just stand your ground, son." Seth told me via his thoughts that he had his role down pat and not to worry. Outwardly he nodded his shaggy head. "Alex I can't stress enough how vital it is that you take out Alexi at the first sign of violence. You'll have a good, clear line if what Lu Hu tells us is still true. Jonathon, you cover Alex and Zuhar you need to keep an eye on both of them while they deal with Alexi. Freezing might be your best bet Jonathon, but if it's not, Zuhar will be ready to boil the water you leech." The three of them nodded that they understood and the three of us began to move between the rows to get a better feel for how our plan was going to pan out.

"I know you don't want to leave two gaps for Eleazar and Carmen, but we need to." Jasper spoke carefully so I knew he was being respectful of my feelings.

I had no doubt that Eleazar would arrive either today or tomorrow. It was inevitable. Where he would be placed in the group I didn't know yet. I didn't know if he'd want to fight. He was, after all, one of the Romanians in essence. Perhaps his loyalty would remain with them, even if he disagreed with what they were going to try to do. "Holly, can you move slightly to your right. If he comes he stands here, in front of Isabella. I want them to go through him if they are to get to my girls."

Bella cringed and Jasper sighed, but nobody said anything against my plan. They simply moved sideways to accommodate the new space in the row.

When I moved past Bella she brought her eyes to mine. I drew her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles before moving along, then behind her through the last row.

"Will you have a clear line through to Ariana from way back here Zafrina?" I asked the towering Amazonian.

I'd wanted her at the front, nearer to the Romanians. I wanted her to be able to distract Ariana with hideous images if she moved a centimetre. But Zafrina had fought me all the way. She was adamant that she would be with Bella and Nessa and nowhere else. She would not be swayed.

"I will see her, I will know where she is, and I will do what you need done." She said matter of factly, effectively bringing the discussion to an end.

"I think we're set, Ed." Jasper announced as we made our way back to the front of the group.

"Yeah, I think we are." But I had one more thing I wanted to say before everyone went off to enjoy their last afternoon before the fight. "I can't thank you all enough for being here for us. It's so much to ask, that you fight for us. Anyone who changes their mind please, I'm begging you, please just say so. I don't want anyone to do anything they won't be able to live with afterward."

Nobody said a word. There wasn't one thought that had any doubt in it. They were all, every single one of them, singly focused on the job at hand.

We'd fight.

**BPOV**

It hurt so much for me to stand there, inept, while Edward Jasper and Peter looked over the group. I wanted to be with Edward, at his side, but he outright refused to allow me anywhere closer than the sixth row. So I tried another tack.

I'd won the swimming race a week ago and I'd been promised I could take whatever place I wanted in the line up but both my husband and my brothers reneged on the deal and told me, quite pointedly, to stand in row six with my daughter.

I'd huffed and puffed and a few of the men I'd beaten had pled my case but it was all to no avail. Peter looked ready to give in but Edward and Jasper never did. Emmett even went so far as to point to the back ranks and ordered me, yes ordered me, to 'get my butt back there'.

To my left I had Dieter, the tracker. I knew he'd been placed there just in case Nessa and I had to flee. He'd be able to track wherever we ended up, but I hated that thought and refused to practise or construct the way I'd be able to get Nessa out of there without Edward at my side.

To my right would be Nessa, the little space left for her during the practise tore at my gut. It was bad enough that we were going to have to fight, but to have to do it with her standing beside me was heartbreaking. Beyond Nessa would be Esme and then Rosie. Behind us would be Zafrina with Kachiri and Senna on either side of her. In front there was now a new space for Eleazar and beside him would be Holly. I understood the reasoning behind all the placements but I was so far from where Edward was going to stand I'd barely be able to see him while everything unfolded.

Seth was four rows directly in front of me and all I could see of him was his tail as it swished back and forth with nerves. He would be right behind Edward with Carlisle at his left and Jaz and Peter to his right. It's where I should've been, right behind my husband, but neither of us was willing to have Nessa up front and neither did we want her at the rear without one of us present.

So I'd had to cave in and allow myself to be shoved to the back. Esme held my hand while the three boys walked amongst the group. She whispered words of encouragement and support the whole time. When Edward came closer to where I stood she dropped my hand when he reached for it. When he kissed my knuckles I fought the urge to moan. I just wanted to run away with him. We could go by my parents house and collect Nessa and just run. It wasn't too late. The Romanians were already on their way, but there was no way they'd be able to catch up to us if we went now. I wanted to pull Edward away, through the woods at the edge of the clearing and just run. Far away.

When he let my hand go Esme took it back into hers and squeezed it lightly. My chance was lost.

We'd stay and we'd fight.

The group began to disperse once Edward had thanked everyone and had asked for anyone who'd changed their mind to speak up. Nobody had. I didn't really expect anyone to and I could tell that Edward didn't either.

I waited until almost everyone was gone from the clearing before I went to his side. I slid my hand into his at his side and felt him relax slightly. "Hey." I whispered.

"Hey." He replied in a sigh.

Seth was approaching us and I knew he would want to stick close to us, and to Nessa, today and tonight. He came right to my side and the three of us ran home in silence. Edward and Seth went to collect Nessa while I went with Zafrina for shield practise.

There would be no more fighting lessons now and once my practise with Zafrina was done we would all be free to do as we pleased for the afternoon. As far as I knew the plan was to just let everyone enjoy some time with each other and with Nessa. She would swim, I knew that much, and I didn't doubt that almost everyone would have a turn at watching her as she did.

Zafrina worked me hard for a whole hour. Time after time I had to shift my shield out from around myself and try to encompass a bigger and bigger area. I sucked at it, still. Without someone to actually protect I found it very hard to visualize it, let alone manipulate it.

Time after time she threw up scenarios, just verbally, and asked me to try to force my shield outwards. Time after time I failed. It was a good distraction though, because while I was cursing at Zafrina I wasn't at the big house moping.

When my cell phone announced that Edward had returned with Nessa from my parents I threw Zafrina a small smile and we abandoned the lesson. "Come and watch Nessa swim." I suggested as I ran beside her towards the big house.

"She is good girl, very smart, very hard worker. She will do you proud tomorrow." Zafrina said cryptically before darting off around the side of the house and into the front yard.

I went in through the backdoor and got the shock of my life as I came into the living room.

Edward had Eleazar by the throat, backed up against the balustrade at the foot of the glass stairs in the foyer. Edward's long fingers were tight around the older mans neck and I could hear Edward hissing menacingly as he shouted.

"How fucking dare you come here! How fucking dare you show your face! This is all on you, you did this." He bellowed into Eleazar's face.

"They'd have come anyway." Eleazar whispered quietly.

"They'd never have known about Seth if you'd kept your fucking mouth shut!" Edward shouted, still louder. I watched in horror as he brought his right hand up to cup Eleazar's chin. He was going to take his head off right there in the foyer!

"Edward." I whispered softly. "Edward, look down darling." I pled quietly. He ignored me and I began to tremble.

"I trusted you! I confided in you, I shared them with you, let you sleep in my bed, in my house and you fucking betrayed me at the first turn!" Edward bellowed into Eleazar's stricken face.

"I was doing my job." Eleazar whined. "You ask of me not to betray your family but in doing so I have to betray my own."

"She's a child, a fucking harmless child. She's my flesh, my blood, she's mine..." Edward was losing control, what little of it he had anyway.

I could see the strain on his face, the tension in his shoulders and the muscles in his forearms tensing with the need to tear Eleazar apart. "Edward, please, darling, look down." I tried again, edging closer to where they stood.

The room was full but totally silent apart from Edward's hissing, Carmen's soft sobbing and Nessa's whimpering. I had to get Edward to look down at Renesmee. Once he saw the state she was in he'd relent, I knew he would.

I moved closer still and felt Carlisle's hand reach out for me. "Don't." He begged but I had to try.

I shook my head at Carlisle and hoped he'd be smart enough not to get any closer to either of them. Emmett was twitching behind me and I could feel Jasper trying desperately to calm the situation. I slid my feet a little closer to Edward, hoping he wouldn't startle. He didn't. He was too focused on Eleazar to notice me coming closer.

I smiled wanly at Nessa, trying to calm her without having to say anything. She sniffled once but continued to cry quietly.

"I know she's harmless, I tried to tell them, it's not about what she can and can't do." Eleazar was pleading for his life but I could see that Edward just wasn't interested. "It's the wolf, get rid of the wolf and they might listen."

At that point I couldn't have cared less if Edward ripped Eleazar's head clean off and kicked it around like a soccer ball, what I was worried about was our daughter having to watch it.

I made to step closer but Edward snarled at me over his shoulder. He returned his gaze to Eleazar and hissed, "Get rid of the wolf?" He asked quite calmly. Nobody in the room doubted that was the calm before the storm, however. "Get rid of the wolf? They are bonded, mates, you can't ask this of me, of anyone, you fucking savage. She loves him. What life is it to live it without your mate? Could you live without yours? I hope she can live without you, you fucking bastard."

Edward tightened his grip on the older man's chin and I saw him flex his thighs in readiness to finish the job. Nessa was whimpering steadily, clutching Edward's lower legs futilely. He wasn't watching or listening.

So I tried again.

I took one more small step toward my husband and whispered again. "Edward, baby. You have to trust me. Look down, please. Look down then do it, but look down first."

I saw him hesitate and knew I had him. He never moved his hands, he kept them in place, but he moved his torso back two inches and looked down between his legs. His daughter was there, holding onto his thigh, whimpering softly and begging her daddy to let her friend go.

Edward looked down at her for a long minute. Everyone in the room held their breath. He looked over his shoulder at me and then back down to Renesmee. She had tears pouring down her little reddened cheeks and she was snivelling, trying hard to get control of her emotions as her father slowly loosened his grip on the shaking vampire in his hands.

As if it were slow motion Edward removed first the hand that cupped Eleazar's chin and then the one at his throat. Of course there would be no marks, no bruising, but Eleazar reached up and cupped his throat none the less. He sighed heavily but remained where he stood, still backed up against the railing.

Edward bent at the waist and slid his hands under Nessa's shoulders, hoisting her up into his arms. She quietened significantly in just that one second and when Edward cradled her in to him tighter she tucked herself under his chin and wrapped her tiny arms around his neck, holding him just as tightly. She whispered her thanks into his throat and his face tightened with emotion as she spoke. He closed his eyes and drank in her scent then marched across the room and put her into Seth's waiting hands.

With one last look back to where I stood he sighed, ran a hand through his hair then ran off out through the back door.

Eleazar put a hand out to me and opened his mouth as if to speak to me. I took one huge step forward and put my finger into his face. "Shut the fuck up old man or I'll finish what he started." I seethed into his shocked face. "Have you come to fight?" I asked him, point blank.

I heard Carlisle begin twittering as if he was going to interject and tell me to be respectful, so I turned to face him and growled at him as well. He put his hands up and moved back to his original position.

I set my jaw and leaned in closer to the trembling man. "Have. You. Come. Here. To.  
Fucking. Fight?" I demanded.

He glanced over my shoulder towards where his coven mates were huddled in the archway of the dining room and then with another short look towards Carmen he nodded. "I have." He stuttered.

"Good." I rasped out between clenched teeth. "Esme," I called over my shoulder, "Carmen needs you. Jaz, find out what he knows about the guard and start putting it on the war map. Em, if he even looks at Nessa or Seth, kill him. I'll bring Edward back, we need to have another meeting."

I only stopped long enough to make sure Nessa was okay and as she was now in Seth's lap and no longer crying I assumed she was as well as she was likely to be under the circumstances. I patted her on the cheek as I went passed on my way to retrieving my distraught husband.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for reading. I hope you have found something interesting in this chapter. It sure is getting complicated. My 'war map' is now four feet long and three feet wide and is pinned to the wall above my computer desk. Every day I move the 'pieces' about, moving them a few spaces left or right or closer to the front of the fight. By nightfall I move them back. Lol. Pretend war is hell!**


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52 – The War Map – Part 2

52.

**EPOV**

I waited for her on my rock, I knew she'd come. She always did.

I had been so close to killing Eleazar, so close to ripping his head from his shoulders and roaring in relief once I'd done it I hadn't noticed Renesmee beneath me.

I felt no guilt, no shame for wanting Eleazar dead, but for the pain on Nessa's face and the anguish in her thoughts I'd never atone for that in a thousand lifetimes. If not for Bella, god, I couldn't even think about it. She had talked me down. It had been Bella who'd saved Eleazar _and_ Nessa, simply with her words. She knew what I needed to hear and to see, and she'd not hesitated, thank god.

I was still seething, still trembling with rage. That Eleazar could ask me to dispose of Seth to make the problem go away was so revolting, so disgusting that I felt ill having to replay the sounds coming out of his mouth as he'd said it.

I heard Bella's footfalls and tried to prepare myself for her wrath.

She flew into the little clearing and came straight to me. She'd had no doubt where to find me. I had always run to here, even though it had been years since I'd fled. She'd cured me of that instinct, to run away from our problems and hide myself away from her. That wasn't what I was doing now and I hoped she knew it as she came running through the trees and out into the bright sunshine of the clearing.

"Oh baby." She sighed as she came to me. She flung herself at me and I caught her around her waist and pulled her into my chest. She stood between my knees and I held her tightly, drinking in her scent. I began to whimper against her neck, kissing her softly between murmured apologies as my self control began to falter. "Shh, it's okay, it's okay baby." She soothed me, rubbing my back in circles with her fingers as she held me.

"It's not. I was going to kill him. With our daughter at my feet, I was going to do it. I want to kill him. It's not alright. I'm not that man, I'm not a monster." I told her as I lost myself in her throat, kissing her absently as I croaked out my admission and my denial.

"I know, I know you aren't that man Edward. And it doesn't make you a monster for wanting it done. It doesn't." She pushed herself away a little and stepped back. Cupping my face with her palms she stared down at me and smiled wanly. "I know you weren't listening, but I don't think you were the only one in that house thinking of ending him."

I shook my head. "I don't know. I didn't hear a thing until you said my name."

She smiled weakly. "It's done now. We've got bigger things to think about. You have to put it aside and come home now Edward, learn what we can from him while we have the chance." She was trying to tug me off the rock.

I looked up into her eyes and let my mouth fall open. "You cannot be serious?" I was staggered. "I want nothing from him. Nothing. This is his doing, he bought this upon us." I raged, slipping off the rock and sidestepping her. I walked further into the clearing and then turned back to face her. "There is nothing he can tell me that the others haven't already. I don't want to win this fight using knowledge he gave."

It was Bella who staggered back now. The abject horror on her face was clearly evident. I'd escaped her wrath before, but not now. She hissed softly and advanced toward me. I squared my shoulders and set my knees, but knew it was futile. At full throttle she'd kick my ass time and time again. She was no longer a newborn, but Bella in full flight was formidable and I was all but powerless to defend myself when it came to her, especially when it was me who'd enraged her in the first place.

She squinted and looked me over from head to toe. Here it comes I thought.

"Fine." She spat at my feet and turned to leave.

I was shocked. That was it? That's all she had? "That's all you've got? Just 'fine'?" I asked as she began to walk back the way she'd come in.

She turned again and with a calm voice spoke the words that brought me fully to my knees. "I didn't go through all this; I didn't let my mortal body die just to have this new one taken from me. **You** brought me into this life, you gave me Renesmee. We've come so far, we're so close to having it all Edward, and I think it's worth fighting for. I think you're worth fighting for and I know for certain that Renesmee is. So you stay here, you mope and you bitch and whine and look the gift horse in his mouth, but I won't. I don't care where the information comes from, the devil himself could show up here, right now, and offer me the information I need to win and I'd take it."

She was about to turn and run so I ran ahead of her and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders. "What if the devil **did** just show up? What if he lies? What if he is the traitorous bastard I believe him to be, what then Bella?" I bellowed into her stricken face.

She shook her head. "Not good enough Edward. That's spite talking, not our leader. I'm sorry, but I can't think of what you want right now, I have to think of Renesmee. I don't care if he lies and you shouldn't either. You should be clutching at the same straws I am, you should be turning over rocks to find the snippet of information that will save our lives." She twisted in my hands and made to pull herself free of me.

"You think I'm not putting you and our child first?" I barked angrily. "I nearly lost you both once because I put your feelings first. There is nothing, and nobody, that means more to me than the two of you. How do I put aside what he's done and accept his help now?" I asked.

She seemed to think on it briefly. "Whatever we think of Eleazar he is on our side now, right now, in this, and he's here and he's willing to help us with information. Information we wouldn't have at all if he didn't share it Edward. He could've stayed away. He could've kept his knowledge to himself but he's here and willing to share it. I can't pass that up, not if it means we'd have a chance to protect Seth and Nessa. You can't ask me to ignore this chance." She was shaking her head violently. "We'll let him speak, we don't have to believe everything he says, we have Maggie and we have Charles, they'll be able to tell us if he's full of shit." She stated matter of factly, as if it was the simplest solution in the world.

And in a way it was. I'd be able to know, conclusively, whether the old man was lying, but that didn't mean I wanted his help. I paced for a few moments, pondering the humiliation of winning the fight using information Eleazar had provided. I knew it shouldn't matter to me but it did, on the surface it did. But deep down did I really care where the intel came from? If it saved Nessa and Seth I shouldn't care.

"Okay." I said quietly, letting my arms fall to my sides in defeat. She was right; we had nothing to lose by listening to him. We didn't need to take any notice at all of what he said, we just had to listen. I could do that, at the very least. "I'll listen to him."

Now her smile was beatific! She stepped forward and took my face into her hands. She rubbed her thumb along my jaw and I had to let out the moan I was holding in. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine firmly. She pulled away again and her smile lit up her face. "Thank you beautiful boy." She purred.

I threaded my hands into her hair and pulled her mouth back to mine. I was just settling in to devouring her when she giggled into my mouth and stepped away. "What?" I asked as innocently as possible. "This might be my last chance for make-up sex." I laughed darkly, hoping she'd get the joke and not lynch me for it.

She giggled and pushed at me with her fingers to my chest. "Later baby." She laughed. "Come home Edward, let's get this part over with so we can have tonight." She purred again.

**BPOV**

Eleazar was waiting for us on the back deck as Edward and I reappeared at the big house. I could tell he was nervous about our approach. His eyes darted left and right as we ran towards him. He held out his hands passively and I looked at Edward to make sure his anger was in check. It was, barely.

"You must understand, they are my family." He whispered as we took the steps two at a time and came to stand by him on the decking. "I was sent here for the christening to learn about your gifts. That is all I was requested to provide, what the gifts were, if you had any." He pled with us to understand, but neither of us was willing to listen to this part.

"I don't care." I told him, advancing on him as I had earlier in the foyer. "I don't trust you, he doesn't trust you," I threw a look to where Edward stood in a low crouch, a soft rumble coming from his chest, "You used me, you used us. If you come within twenty feet of Nessa before the fight tomorrow I'll end you myself." I spat this at his feet and left Edward there, goggling after me, and went inside to the dining room.

Emmett offered me his fist over the back of the sofa as I came in through the backdoors and I bumped it violently with my own as I went past him.

"I'll hold him down." Garrett whispered conspiratorially as I past by him. I threw him a weak smile.

"Wanna hold me down?" Randall teased from where he stood leaning against the archway to the dining room as I went through.

"God, do you never stop?" I giggled as I nudged him with my shoulder on the way past.

"Nope. I don't ever stop. Trust me babe." He laughed, raising and lowering his eyebrows in a way he probably thought was charming. In reality it was creepy, but hey, who was I to judge?

"Ew." I shuddered playfully and shot him a weirded out sort of grimace, to which he just winked, of course.

Jasper, Peter, Sam, Benjamin and Alex were in the dining room arguing about some detail or other.

The war map was so complicated and so huge now that it had to be taped to the dining room windows just so we could see all of it at once. There were red squares all over it and crossed-out and marked-through names in every conceivable combination and configuration. How those three boys understood it all was beyond me.

I knew where I had to stand and why. I knew where Edward and Nessa and Seth were going to be too. I knew where the rest of the family had to be and I knew who was going to speak on our behalves. The rest was a blur.

"So, has he spilled his guts yet?" I asked as I plonked myself down in the nearest chair.

Alex tipped his head to the side and I knew he had no idea what I meant. I'd laugh but I didn't have the energy.

"A little." Peter replied. "We'll easily out number them according to Eleazar."

"Have Maggie and Charles vetted the information?" I asked sullenly.

"Yeah, they both agree, he's on the level." Jasper said as he moved back towards his seat.

Edward came in then. He ran his hand over my shoulder and up through my hair as he went by where I sat. He stood in front of the map and I heard him blow his breath out over his teeth. "Is that all they're bringing?" He pointed to the northern side of the clearing on our map where twenty or so little red squares were marked. They'd been there ever since the maps inception but up until now only four or five of them had names in them.

Jasper came to stand in front of the map with Edward then. "Yeah. Fourteen of the guard a couple of shields and their personal guards, but we knew those already. No surprises. Just the lack of numbers. Which strikes me as either over confidence or plain stupidity on their part. They're pretty confident they'll prevail, that we only want to talk our way out of the trouble. They've underestimated us, brother." Jasper said with a low, menacing chuckle.

"Good." Edward said matter of factly. He turned to me then. "Let's swim with our daughter Isabella." He held his hand out for me and it was now my turn to be shocked.

"You want to swim?" I asked him.

"I do." He smiled then, a beautiful full faced smile that caught his eyes too. "The map is done. I now know what Eleazar knows. Tomorrow will come whether I dither with the map now or not. So let's swim."

"Let's." I agreed and took his hand.

**EPOV**

My brothers had everything in hand. There was nothing I could do to prevent what tomorrow was going to bring. Everyone knew what they had to do, so for now I was going to try and enjoy my family as much as I could. We had but a few precious hours left to us now.

There were small groups dotted all over the property as an air of expectancy settled over the house in the afternoon. Viktor was once again sat on the sofa in our suite as he watched television. His thoughts were as jumbled as ever as Bella and I darted in and out of our bathroom changing into our swimming things.

The other Russian men were playing poker with Jasper, Aro and Marcus in the dining room. The two Russian women were gone, off to the forest for, well, whatever it was a mated pair of female vampires did with their time in the forest, alone.

Charlotte, Makenna Melinda and Maggie were with our Rosie in her suite. I could hear their giggling and gossiping so I knew they were alright, not fretting or moping.

There was a large group of men that included Carlisle, Liam and Eleazar that were all piled into Carlisle's study. They were reminiscing, not strategising. Had they been able to they'd probably be sitting back smoking cigars at this point.

Nathaniel and Angelica were conspicuous by their absence. They'd driven off in a rented car at midday, long before Eleazar had arrived, saying they were going to 'discover the area' while they had the chance. I had no doubt that there were discoveries being made in that vehicle, none of which included the natural flora and fauna of the Olympic Peninsula!

All of the Asian vampires were by the river. Seven very still silhouettes could be seen from the windows in our suite. They sat side by side along the bank of the river, totally silent in their contemplation. The three groups were quite different within their faiths but also the same in their diligence within those faiths.

The four English vampires were sitting on the decking reading newspapers. A more human scene I'd never witnessed from vampires who had no need to hide what they were at the time. For the English seeming to be human was not an act. It was a way of life. They were very formal, very staid and very proper. They were extremely polite and sociable but at the same time they were also very self contained within their own group and segregated themselves from the larger group very effectively, without causing offence. At first I thought that they may be keeping their distance from the group because they'd come to only defend, but after spending a little time reading their thoughts I found it to be innocent of that. It was much simpler, they were just more comfortable within their own routines and inside their own group. They weren't being snobbish or boorish they were just happier with their own.

Nessa was already in the pool by the time Bella and I had changed in our suite and made our way out to the pool house. The pool was full, too. As predicted almost everyone wanted the chance to have some fun before the tension returned tomorrow morning.

Esme and Emmett had Nessa at the far end of the pool while a dozen other vampires swam at the other end. Bella and I slipped into the pool, between the two groups and split off to opposite ends of the pool. Bella went to play with Nessa and I went to muck around with the group of boys at the other end.

It was loud, boisterous and often quite violent at my end of the pool. At Bella's it was more subdued but no less fun. Every few minutes she turned her eyes to me and I sought hers. Even being in the same pool as her was too far away for my liking and as the sun began its descent I got more and more eager and anxious to take my family home one last time. It was a double edge sword though. I didn't want the night to ever begin because I didn't want for tomorrow to come, but if the sun didn't set tonight I'd never have her in my arms ever again. It was a thought I could not abide.

Seth went home to the Rez to see his parents and for one last meeting with the tribunal and the pack. He would come back and sleep at the cottage though, none of us could contemplate not being near either him or Nessa tonight. The plan was that he'd come back as early as he could and we'd let Nessa stay up as long as she could with him.

Esme and Carlisle begged us to let them take Nessa home for her bath and her dinner and we let them. Their thoughts, particularly Esme's, crushed me even though I knew she was doing her best to shield me from the worst of them.

Bella and I showered and changed in our suite and said goodnight to those who were on their way out for the night.

Pairs were once again beginning to slink off to various secluded areas and even back to hotel rooms and rented houses to be alone. Covens were leaving with covens, families with families and mate with mate.

We were down to having only the Italians the Denali girls and Viktor in the house with us Cullen's and we weren't expecting to see anyone again until first light the following day. That was why it was so surprising to open the front door to another vampire.

**BPOV**

I smelled him well before Edward ushered the new vampire into the living room. I was surprised though, we weren't expecting anyone else and a vampire arriving on his own, after dark, in the middle of nowhere was unusual. Even though we knew to expect the unexpected at the moment.

"I'm sorry I come to you so late in the process." He was saying as I came down to the second floor landing. I peered over the handrail and saw a stunning blonde male vampire standing in the foyer with Edward. He was easily six feet six, maybe a little more. He shook Edward's hand. "I am Eric. I have come to help you, if I can." He announced quite formally as though he was waiting for an invitation to join in the fight.

Edward introduced himself and began making the other introductions around the living room. He looked up to where I was and I gave the new arrival a small smile and matching wave.

I was about to go down the stairs and join in the new conversations when Alice flew past me on the landing and as fast as I've ever seen her move she was beside Edward and tugging him out the front door. "You need to come with me, now." She whispered as he allowed himself to be dragged outside.

Jasper came out onto the landing and put his arm around my waist. "Remember what I said once before little sister? They'll closet themselves away until the answer presents itself, we just need to be patient." He kissed me on the cheek and made his way down the remainder of the stairs and into the living room, his hand extended to our newest guest. "I'm Jasper and that bundle of joy who just ran out of here is Alice, my mate. Good to meet you. What can you do?" He asked matter of factly. After all, there was no time for niceties anymore.

Eric looked shocked but not offended at Jasper's forthrightness. He chuckled a little and then announced that he had an affinity for animals. He could call them to heel, have them do his bidding.

"Have you ever tried it with shape shifters?" Jasper asked as he led Eric into the dining room and towards the war map.

"Yeah, once or twice. I heard you've got yourself a whole pack of wolves, right? I wouldn't mind betting I can hear their thoughts when they're in wolf form. I could the last time I came across one." He said with another chuckle.

I didn't know where to go first. To the dining room to find out more about the other wolf Eric had come into contact with, or to run outside and find out what Alice' problem was.

I decided I'd find some ground somewhere in the middle. I went into the living room and stood midway between the dining room and the front door. I couldn't hear Edward and Alice so I figured they'd run off out of earshot for whatever it was she needed to tell him. But I could hear Eric and Jasper as they ran over the war map and tried to decide where to slot him in.

"Come on, we'll go and find out right now." Jasper was saying half an hour later when they both came out of the dining room. "Bell's, we're going to head off to your place to see Seth. We want to test Eric's theory about being able to hear them in wolf form. Call me if you need me, alright?" He stopped right by me and put his hand on my forearm as he asked. I understood what he was asking too. If Alice and Edward came back and something was 'up' he wanted me to call him straight away.

"I will. Thanks." I told him.

He winked at me and then they were gone, through the backdoor and away towards the cottage.

I tried to get involved in some of the conversations being held but my head wasn't in it. I was so full of fear, so worried, so scared, so frustrated and still so very angry at Eleazar I doubted I'd be able to relax at all before tomorrow.

The look on Edward's face when he and Alice returned confirmed it for me. There was to be no peaceful last night for me.

I was out of my seat and had him by the face, my palms on his cheeks, within half a second of him coming in through the door. "Tell me." I growled.

**EPOV**

"Show me." I growled at Alice as she came to a stop at the foot of a tree.

We'd been running for a few minutes and I knew she was trying to get us both far enough away from the big house so we'd not be overheard and I wasn't able to read the thoughts of anyone in it.

She turned and faced me, squinted her eyes and let her hands fall slack at her sides. She took a deep breath and I concentrated on the images she was beginning to show me.

I saw Eric and a woman, just a girl really. He towered over her and she was as dark as he was fair. He had his arm draped over her shoulders and was murmuring into her ear quietly. I was about to ask Alice why I cared about Eric's love life when the vision scanned downwards a little and I noticed where their hands were.

The girl had both her hands cupped under her enormous belly. She was pregnant, very heavily pregnant.

Eric had one hand at the top of the distended stomach and he was rubbing it idly, just as I'd done myself when Bella was carrying Renesmee.

"Oh god, she's human?" I asked, knowing the answer but needing to put voice to what I was seeing.

Alice said nothing, she just shifted her weight to her other foot and let the vision change.

Now Eric was standing in a doorway and the woman was sitting on an armchair crying. '_Don't leave us, not now. We need you. I'm so close, don't leave me now.' _She was sobbing.

He stepped slightly further into the room, as though he were going to change his mind about leaving. '_I have to go. They'll come for our baby too if I don't fight.' _He whispered to her and then he went through the door and closed it behind him.

"He's come here to fight because he is about to have a child with a mortal woman." Alice whispered as though I couldn't interpret what she'd shown me.

"I can see that. But I don't get it Alice. Surely he knows that our problems aren't because Nessa is a hybrid, but because she's bonded with a wolf?" I tried to put what I had learned into some sort of perspective but there were more questions to ask than there were answers.

Alice began shaking her head. "He does know that but feels compelled to help us. Oh Edward, she's human. He's not changed her. She won't be changed. There isn't time now anyway, she'd not survive. She doesn't want to be changed and he won't consider it against her will. He loves her Edward. She's going to die in three days giving birth, she's going to be alone and if we don't get there in time the baby is going to die too." She sunk to her haunches at the foot of the tree and sobbed loudly.

I knelt down beside her and tried to make sense of what she'd just told me.

"Are you saying we're going to lose? That he won't be there when the baby is born because we lose?" I was really panicked now, searching her head furiously to see what she'd seen.

She was shaking her head though, violently, left to right. "NO! I can't see that, I can only see them. I can't see what happens in the clearing, the wolves are there and three hybrids as well. But I can see this. He doesn't go home Edward. I don't know why and I don't know how, but I've seen her giving birth, alone." She was really crying now, great dry wracking sobs wrenching free from her throat. She clutched for me and I leaned closer and took her into my arms as I came to grips with what she was saying. "Edward, Eric is going to die in battle tomorrow and his baby will die if we don't go there and get it."

I fell back against my butt on the cold ground and just stared at her.

"I can't let this happen. I'll go back now, tell him to go home to her. He's going to lose the woman, he knows that, he must. But he can save the child. If he's there when it's born he can save it." I sprung to my feet and put a hand out for Alice.

This was the simplest solution. We had plenty of numbers, his presence would make no difference. He could go home, he had time to get there, and he could avert this tragedy. I couldn't have the deaths of two innocents on my conscience. He wouldn't lose both of them in order to fight for my two.

I was still thinking this and began to wonder why Alice hadn't put her hand in mine as yet. She still sat prone on the ground, sobbing gently. I leaned down and put my finger under chin and lifted her face to mine. She shook her head a little and a soft sob escaped her lips. "If he goes home someone will take his place." She whispered.

"Oh god." I sunk back to my knees beside her and put my forehead onto her shoulder. She was right. If we changed something, meddled with the order of things, Eric would survive but who would we be condemning in his stead?

We sat like that for a few minutes more and then she began to tell me in her thoughts what we'd do after the fight. I listened carefully as she ran through the scenarios and hoped to Christ that the outcome she wanted was possible.

After another few minutes she shrugged me off and got to her feet to offer me her hand. She pulled me to my feet and stood me square on, holding my shoulders in her hands. "You can't stop this part, this part will happen tomorrow, but we can save that child Edward. Go home, be a husband and a father tonight. We'll fight tomorrow, and win, and then we'll fix this." She said it so simply, with such conviction that I almost believed it for myself. Almost.

"Okay Ally." I said quietly.

I took her hand and we ran back to the house. I steeled myself to face Bella, who by now knew there was something afoot and would want details. I knew this was nothing I could share with her, there was nothing to be done to avert the outcome Alice had seen, so I was going to have to either lie to her or beg her to trust me one last time. I decided to try for trust first, if that failed I'd lie.

She didn't hesitate when I came in through the front door. One look at my face and she knew there was a problem. I smiled at her anyway. When the first thing she said was 'tell me' I knew I had to be very strong, very strict with the way I handled this situation.

I took half a second to look around the room for Eric but he wasn't there. "Where is he?" I asked Bella as she trembled.

"With Jasper. They went to the cottage to see if he could hear Seth when he is a wolf." She never let my face go and I could feel her fear radiating off her hands as she stared at me. "Tell me, please." She whispered.

"I can't. Not yet." I admitted, feeling sick at the thought of having to keep this from her, now of all times.

"Please, don't do this now, not now." She was begging and I knew she deserved better than what I was about to do and say to her.

But I also knew it was the only way. There was no alternative. If I told her what Alice had seen about our new friend Eric, god I didn't even want to think about what the consequences were if I told her that? "I can't. You have to trust me Isabella. Now more than ever you need to trust me."

I could see the warring emotions flit across her face as she traversed the line between anger and fear. She settled for fear. Eventually. "Promise me it's not about Nessa." She closed her eyes when she asked and I knew how very frightened she was that Alice had been able to see some sort of outcome and I was refusing to share it.

"It's nothing to do with Nessa. I swear it." I grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "I swear it." If it had been about Renesmee I'd have told her, I wouldn't have hesitated.

Alice came in through the front door now and I was pleased to see she'd settled a far calmer expression on her face than the one she'd had in the forest. It was going to be a long night for Alice, knowing what she did about Eric, and I felt for her.

Her eyes caught mine as she searched the room for Jasper.

"He's taken Eric to the cottage to see if he can read Seth as a wolf." Bella whispered as she looked between the two of us.

Alice nodded her thanks to Bella and ran up the stairs, a few seconds later the soft click of her bedroom door told me she would wait for him there.

Marcus was desperate to know what was wrong, what he could do to help, and the thoughts of others in the living room were also filled with concern for the way Alice looked and behaved just now. But they too needed to be focused on the fight tomorrow and not caught up in something would couldn't change or fix, right now anyway.

Alice and I had a plan, the instant the fight was done we'd enact it. If we survived I'd make sure that baby did too. I just had to hope that our plans came about in tact or I'd just condemned a man to death along with his mate and their child.

Right now my business was my family. I called a hasty goodbye to those left in the house as I ran with Bella down the backyard and away to the cottage.

**BPOV**

He'd promised it was nothing to do with Nessa so I had to put it aside. It was obvious it was about Eric, but what it could be I had no idea. So for now, like Jasper, I had to be patient.

The cottage was a hive of activity when we got there. Seth, Eric and Jasper were in our front yard. Seth was in his wolf form and it looked like Eric was having a conversation with him in some form of sign language. He was waving his hands about and Seth was moving from side to side with each movement. Edward could probably tell me more about what was being said, or not said, but I just wasn't that interested. If Eric could be of some help tomorrow great, but right now tomorrow was far enough away that I wanted to enjoy my time with my family first.

So I left Edward with the other boys and went inside to see what my parents in law were getting up to with Nessa.

Esme and Nessa were in the kitchen still cooking. The remains of Nessa and Seth's dinner were still on the sink but they'd moved on to dessert by the time I got there. Carlisle was sitting at the kitchen table with an icing bag in his hand. A stranger sight I'd never seen.

A three hundred year old vampire sitting at my kitchen table, wearing a pink frilled apron no less, icing in his hair, trying to pipe pink icing onto little cupcakes. I burst into a giggling fit and had to clutch at my belly to rein it in. It didn't work, it was just too funny.

Carlisle huffed and scowled at me but said nothing. He simply went about his business. His business being finishing the job my daughter had obviously set for him to do.

I went to the kitchen counter and pressed a kiss onto Nessa's hair. "Are we having fun?" I asked.

Nessa turned to me and I could see the cake batter all around her mouth and stuck like glue into her hair. Esme had it all up one arm and all over the front of her dress.

"Oh yes. Pa is great at cooking momma. Nana-Me helped me make the cakes, look." She thrust the tray out in front of her to show me the mangled and lopsided cakes they'd made.

"They're lovely." I laughed. "I can see Pa is icing them for you, you're doing a great job there Pa." I giggled.

He scowled again but I could tell it was light hearted. "Perhaps I should have been a baker, not a doctor?" He asked Nessa who crinkled up her eyes and thought about it a moment.

"No, you need to be a doctor Pa. If you were a baker only I could eat your cakes. But you will have lots of people to put back together tomorrow. It's good you are a doctor." She said matter of factly.

Esme gasped and I had to hold onto the back of the chair to keep steady on my feet. Edward was through the front door and at my side in a heartbeat, his face a mask of pain and his body twitching with fear for the casual way his daughter had just spoken. I gripped his arm tightly and tried to tell him to calm down without words. Carlisle too was staring open mouthed at Nessa's back. She'd turned back around towards the counter and had continued on with her baking. She had no idea the furore she'd just caused and I was pleased for it.

"She's only saying it how she sees it." I whispered to Edward who turned his eyes to mine.

"I know." He whispered in return. He softened his stance, put his hand over mine and gave it a little squeeze. With one last look at his daughter he went back out into the front yard to resume his investigations of Eric's talent.

Esme threw me a slight smile and turned back to what she was doing with Nessa. I sat opposite Carlisle at the little kitchen table and began pressing the brightly coloured sprinkles onto the tops of the finished cakes. With my free hand I covered his and gave him a gentle squeeze. He closed his eyes and nodded minutely then returned to the task at hand.

When the testing was done outside the four boys came back inside and marvelled at both Renesmee's talents and also Carlisle's, much to his disgust. He played along though, for Nessa's sake.

It was heart breaking when it was time for the others to go back to the big house for the evening. Esme clung to first Seth then Nessa then me and then to Edward. She sobbed into his chest for a moment before gathering herself and running off, not even waiting for her husband.

Carlisle shook Edward's hand and then Seth's before he hugged me tightly and kissed me at my temple. "Have faith sweetheart." He whispered as he let me go. I nodded, feeling nothing but dread. He scooped Nessa up into his arms and kissed her soundly on her cheek. "Have a good sleep little one and I'll see you in the morning." He kissed her again and then he set her down. With one last longing look he turned and headed to his own home.

And then there was just the four of us. My family. Husband, daughter and son. For that was what Seth was. He was as much my son as Nessa was my daughter. They were together and always would be, no matter tomorrow's outcome. If we won they'd be together in the flesh. If we lost they'd be together in heaven.

Edward crossed the room and took my hand and then Nessa's. "You can do whatever you'd like tonight darling. What do you think?" He asked her.

She crinkled her nose adorably while she thought about it. She looked to me then to Seth before turning her attention back to her father. "I want to hunt with Sethy and then I want him to sleep in my room so we can whisper all night. I don't want to get into trouble for it either." She waggled her finger at Edward and I couldn't stifle my laugh.

He scowled playfully at her. "You want to hunt?" He asked.

She nodded. "It will make me strong for tomorrow. Zaffy says I have to be a big strong girl tomorrow, so I need to hunt, like you and mommy do." She told him firmly as though he should've thought of this detail himself.

I was still giggling about Zafrina being nicknamed Zaffy so I didn't quite catch what it was that Edward said to Seth, but before I knew it he and Nessa were out the front door and running.

As the door clicked shut behind them Edward had me around my waist, walking me backwards to our bedroom. As he lowered me onto the mattress he growled into my throat. "We'll hunt later, after I've had you half a dozen times Isabella."

All I could do was moan my acceptance of his plan.

* * *

**A/N: So we've made it to the 'night before'. I am so pleased to be at this point. This has been the hardest part for me, filling in these hours before the fight. I do hope you enjoy what I've had them do. If you have please review and let me know. If you've hated it drop me a line and let me know that too, every critique helps. **


	53. Chapter 53

**A/N: There are pieces of dialogue and situations in this chapter that are taken directly from within Breaking Dawn. No copyright infringement is intended. I merely wished to recapture the heartbreaking situations SM has managed to create for us while I wrote my own version of the confrontation. All direct quotes and correlations are done with respect to SM and BD. **

Chapter 53 – The Long Kiss Goodnight.

53.

**EPOV**

I had wanted it to be loving and soft and gentle but in the end it was rough, loud, needy and I was so very glad that Seth had run off with Nessa to hunt.

I tucked Bella into the crook of my neck and held her tightly when it was over. She was trembling and I knew it had nothing to do with her orgasm. There was nowhere to hide inside our connection once our bodies were joined. Our thoughts intermingled whether we wanted them to or not. I was beyond trying to shield her from my fear. I needed her to feel it from me, I needed her to take it from me and to give me hers. So I'd held onto her and loved her as best I could while we both let our panic swamp us. I'd still brought her to climax and she'd milked mine from me with ease.

But under it all was our grief.

It was not enough. It was never going to be enough. I'd had her in my life a lot longer than she'd had me in hers and it still wasn't enough. If we had another thousand years and faced what was coming tomorrow I'd still say the ledger was stacked against us. It was never going to be enough for me.

"I love you Isabella." I whispered into her hair as she shivered and shook with emotion.

"Oh Edward." She mumbled as she buried her head into my chest again. "I can't bear the thought. It can't be the end for us, for Nessa." She wailed.

"It's not. We'll be together, love. Always. No matter how, we will. We'll face the final death together, hand in hand. I'd follow you anywhere." I told her truthfully and hoped, with all that I was, that I didn't have to ever find out what was on the other side of that promise.

I began to hear Seth and Nessa's return and I knew that Bella could too because she sprang from our bed and began tugging on her clothes. I did the same and by the time our children were back in the house safely we were both in the living room waiting for them.

Seth cocked an eyebrow at me and I looked down to see what was wrong. I'd buttoned my shirt unevenly. I sniggered lightly but didn't bother to fix it. Nessa didn't notice so I left it alone. "You need a shower, you're such a messy hunter." Bella playfully admonished Nessa who looked down at her own clothes and shrugged.

"I got a big deer momma. He was the biggest. Sethy said he was too big for me, but I showed him." She winked at Seth over her shoulder as she went down the hall with Bella towards the bathroom.

Seth sat on the sofa and put his head in his hands. I knew he was only hanging on by a thread, and even that was quickly fraying at its ends. I sat down beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

'_Are you sure there is no way we can just send her away?'_ He asked me silently, never moving his head from its cradle in his huge hands.

I shook my head. "We've been over this. We can't send her away unprotected and neither of us wants to be the one to go with her. They'll never let her go, Seth. They'll come for her after...after we're gone, they won't let her go. She'd be alone." I stumbled through the sentence and tried my best to keep emotion out of it. I had to be firm with him now, make him see the logic in my view. If she was to die she'd die with us, all of us, tomorrow in battle. It was the only way, we couldn't leave her unprotected.

He was nodding but I knew from his thoughts he didn't agree. He'd been searching for weeks for ways to get her away from the fight, but like us, he'd come up empty handed. He'd toyed with the idea that one of the wolves could run with her. Take her far away, mask their scent, stay hidden until she was grown and could defend herself better. It was a good plan at heart, and for a few hours I'd considered it our best shot to save her, but in the end it just wouldn't work. They'd have a tracker, they'd find her eventually. She'd be slaughtered then, along with her wolf protector, and we'd have perished never knowing what became of her.

'_Can I lay with her tonight?' _He asked me silently. I could tell he was waiting for my temper to rise and he was prepared to argue with me.

"Of course." I told him, startling him so much with my answer that he jumped slightly in his seat as his eyes found mine.

"Really?" He asked, incredulous.

"Really." I told him. "We've all only got tonight Seth. I know you know that. I wouldn't deny you being close to her tonight."

He sighed in relief and let himself relax back into the sofa back. "Thanks."

I reached my hand across the space between us and put it on his shoulder. "I know you love her and I want you to know that I'm sorry." I whispered.

His eyes widened. "What for?"

"I've doomed you Seth."

He leapt to his feet and began to shake. "You haven't. You didn't. Don't say that. You wouldn't. I did this, if I hadn't...that day she was born...if I'd stayed at the Rez, it's me Edward, I'm sorry for all of this. Without me she'd be safe." He collapsed to the floor and I heard Nessa begin to cry in the bathroom.

I hadn't meant to upset them but I did need to say my peace before tomorrow. I knew how tomorrow was going to unfold. I knew how hectic the morning was likely to be as we prepared, I knew this was my only shot to say what I needed him to know.

I knelt beside him and pulled him to my chest and cradled him like the child he was. "Seth, son..." My voice choked on the word, "I love you as my own and I'm grateful that my daughter loves you too." I held him tightly and let him cry against my chest. His was trying so hard to stave off thoughts that he was being childish. "It's okay to cry Seth, nobody thinks any less of you. We're all scared, son. Terrified actually. I'd be more worried if you weren't."

"I can't help it...I can't face it...I don't want to go tomorrow..." He cried, sobbing into my shirt.

"I know. I know. None of us do. If it was as simple as running away we would've already." I patted his shoulder and let him calm a little before I continued. "Listen, you need to put this fear aside for now, there'll be plenty of time for it tomorrow. You need to enjoy your time with her, with us, for tonight. Can you hear her crying?" I asked and he nodded. "We don't want that, we want her happy till the end, can you give her that?" I asked, knowing he'd do his best for my daughter.

He sniffed and wiped the back of his hand across his face to dry his tears. I felt him take a mighty breath in and then he shifted away from me. "I can give her that." He told me fiercely.

His resolve had returned. He was straightening up both in posture and mentally as he rose from the floor of the living room and stood to his full height. He was three inches taller than me now and I had to crane my neck to meet his eyes.

I held my hand out and he took it, shaking it hard. "We'll hunt but we'll be back." I told him and he nodded before going down the hall into Nessa's room to wait for her to be finished getting into her pyjamas.

I sat back down on the sofa and put my own head in my hands, just as Seth had done. I had known that tonight was going to be tough mentally as well as physically, I'd been trying to steel myself to be strong for them all, but nothing had prepared me for the way they would feel themselves. Being able to read them, their thoughts and fears, along with my own feelings of frustration and anguish was weighing me down. I felt so tired. As though the last hundred years of being awake was about to crush down onto me and put me into an eternal sleep.

I was so lost in my thoughts I did not hear my wife approach. She touched my shoulder cautiously, "Edward?" She asked. "Edward, darling, hunt with me." She whispered.

I covered her hand with mine and squeezed. I needed to run and she knew it.

**BPOV**

He needed to run. He'd be okay once he'd run for a ways. His talk with Seth had been hard on them both. Seth looked drawn and frightened and tired. Edward didn't look much better. For a vampire who'd not slept in a hundred years he looked as though he needed to now.

We tore off through the forest as fast as we could go. I couldn't keep up with him but did my best. He flew along the forest floor never missing a step as he crashed through the underbrush in front of me. He stopped so abruptly I almost ran into the back of him as I skidded to a stop too.

I was about to ask what the problem was when he slipped into a crouch and put his fingers to his lips to silence me.

I stood stock still and listened for what he was hearing. There. To our right. A bobcat high up in a tree. I nodded at him once and then he was gone, tearing off through the trees in search of our meal.

I followed, though not closely, knowing he'd bring it to the ground and incapacitate it before calling for me to share it with him. We had this routine down pat now. There was no longer any hesitation about this, no fear, no coveting your own kill. We almost always shared now, unless Nessa was with us.

I listened as Edward pounced on the unsuspecting cat and smiled at the sound of its furious indignation as he brought it to the ground. Its scent was strong now that it had been dislodged from its perch. I came out from between the trees and watched as Edward snapped its neck and ran a hand over its throat to find the best position for himself and for me.

"Come." He called softly, knowing I was there already.

I slid to my knees on the opposite side of its neck from where he sat. I splayed the fingers of one hand over its shoulder to steady myself and I put the fingers of the other into Edward's. He interlaced his exquisite fingers with mine and held them tightly, all the while staring up at me from his lashes. He nodded once and bent his lips to the beast. I did the same. I focused my eyes on his and then I bared my teeth and sank them into the soft, yielding flesh of the bobcat.

A deep, rumbling purr came from Edward's throat as the hot, sticky liquid began to flow.

It was over far too fast, like always, and my thirst for the animal was soon over powered by my thirst for Edward. I reached across the carcass for his other hand. I clutched it in mine and as we stood I threw myself at him. He caught me about my waist and he knew, just knew, what I needed from him right then.

He was careful with my clothing, knowing we had to return to the cottage, but it was gone from my body in seconds and lay at my feet in a pool. I pulled his shirt out of his waistband, my lips never leaving his, and threw it on the same pile. In between each movement we took a step sideways, away from the carcass. But there was never the notion that we'd stop long enough to move too far.

With a final grunt his pants hit the forest floor. He dug his fingers into my hips and drew my body to his, holding me in his splayed fingers tight against his erection.

We were surrounded by trees and Edward broke our kiss long enough to march me backward until I was pressed up against one. It wasn't a particularly thick trunk and I knew that we could quite easily break it. Perhaps that's what he wanted? After all, destruction and lust went hand in hand for him.

He bent and slid his hand under my left knee and pulled it to his hip. He stopped kissing me only long enough to hiss my name into my lips as he tilted his hips and shoved his length inside me.

Once joined there was no hiding from our thoughts.

'_Mine...mine...always mine...'_ He thought as he rocked himself in and out of me at a furious pace.

I raked my nails along his shoulders and into the hair at the back of his neck as I clung to him. '_Yes Edward...I'm yours, I'll always only be yours.' _I told him in reply in my thoughts.

He slid his other hand under my other knee. I put my arms above myself and held onto the flimsy tree. It bent with each thrust he made until a soft cracking sound could be heard with each forward press he made.

"Let it fall, I've got you." He growled as I tried to sit forward and grasp for him, in case the tree gave way.

With his hands on my hips he pushed harder still and I felt the first wave of release rush at me from the pit of my stomach. I closed my eyes and let it come. I needed it. Needed it to take some of the useless energy I had inside me. I wanted it to burn it off, use it up so that it might take some of my nervous fear with it.

'_Not..fucking...afraid...' _Edward rasped in his thoughts and I let my eyes spring open in shock.

How could he not be afraid? I wondered as the orgasm kept building within me. He kept pushing inside me, deeper with every stroke. The tree was bending over further and further and I was lying along it almost curved over myself. Edward dipped his head and took my nipple between his lips.

'_Not...fucking...afraid...' _He raged internally. '_Death...means...fucking...nothing...'_

I let the orgasm take me as his teeth found purchase in my nipple. I screamed his name but it was drowned out when he too reached for his release and began screaming my name into the night.

Spent, we clung to each other. I was still pressed up against the tree and he was still inside me so our connection remained intact. He calmed his breathing and released my nipple with a loud smacking sound. He brought his lips to mine and delved his tongue into my mouth. I welcomed it hungrily. I took my hands off the tree and put them into his hair, holding his mouth to mine.

'I love you Edward. Only you.' I told him silently.

'_I love you too Bella. Only ever you.' _He agreed.

He let himself slip from within me and I groaned at the loss of him. He still clung to me, holding me tightly to him, but our connection was lost.

He tucked me under his chin and stroked my back and neck with his beautiful fingers. "I'm not afraid Bella." He said again. "I've died already once, it wasn't so bad." I thought he was joking, trying to make light of our situation, trying to ease the tension for me, so I giggled lightly. He pulled away from me then. He let me go and he took a half step backward. He looked angry. His pitch black eyes squinted down at me. He reached for my face and held my chin between his fingers as though he was about to shout at me. I stiffened. "Death means nothing Isabella. It's just another state of consciousness. True love, this love, our love, can never truly die." He hissed right into my face.

I couldn't say anything. I was stunned into silence. That he had believed that all along was astounding. After everything that had gone between us, everything we'd been through and put each other through. All that had been said and done since Alice had dropped that vase all came down to this.

Death means nothing.

"Nessa's right, isn't she Edward?" I asked meekly.

He softened his touch at my chin and bought his ruby red lips to mine lightly. "Of course she is. We'll be together on the other side, Bella. And there, in heaven, eternity really does mean eternity my love." He kissed me again and I shivered.

I hoped he was right.

**EPOV**

If she believed nothing I'd ever told her I hoped she believed that.

I didn't. It was all bullshit. Death was final. The death we'd both experienced during our change was merely a physical one. I wasn't stupid. I knew that once our consciousness was gone, our soul killed off, that there would be nothing for us. No heaven and certainly no hell. There was just nothing.

But I needed her to have something to cling to as our end approached. I needed her strong enough in her own mind to help our daughter through to the end. I was going to be at the front of the melee and she would be at the rear of it. I'd go first, of that I was sure. She'd probably have to witness it and while I didn't want that, I'd much rather it that way and give her a chance to flee than nothing at all.

So I needed her to think I was strong. That I had a handle on what was going on around us. That I was mentally able to come to terms with what losing this fight would mean. If she could feel strength from my lies then I'd lie.

"Come, we'd better get home." I told her as I released her plump lips from mine.

She took my hand and let me lead her to where our clothes were on the forest floor. We dressed quietly and then we ran home hand in hand. There wasn't really too much more to say between us.

I was sure we'd say our final goodbye in the morning, as we were taking up our positions, so I didn't feel the need to say anything more tonight on that. I had no doubt that at the big house tomorrow morning there would be a very sombre round of goodbyes before we made our way to the clearing. I'd save my last remaining bit of self control for then.

But for tonight I had to be strong for my girls and for Seth. I owed them that. I was at the heart of this fucking mess. Not knowing that I could give Bella a child was the best and worst thing that had ever happened to me. I would not trade the time I had with Renesmee for the world, but it was true that it was me who had condemned her to a short life. Compounding my guilt was the knowledge that I was leading seventy of us to the slaughter.

These were the thoughts I lived with on our last night together.

Nessa was asleep when we got back to the cottage. Seth was lying on his side on her little bed with one arm across her torso, holding her tightly to him. She still had her hand to his chin as though she were sharing her dreams with him as she slept. Bella sobbed quietly as we stood in the doorway watching.

"What is she dreaming about?" She asked me.

"Seth. She's dreaming about Seth. They're swimming at First Beach." I told her as the colours and swirls of Nessa's dream began to change. "They're on the sand now, its night, there is a bonfire. She's sitting between his knees and he's tying wildflowers onto grass and threading it through her hair. She's happy, love." I told her.

Bella sobbed quietly beside me so I led her to our bedroom. I laid her on the bed and went into our bathroom to turn on the taps for our tub. It was nearing one o'clock so there was time enough for us still tonight. I wanted my fill of her before the sun came up and took her from me.

While the tub filled I took her in our bed once again. I worshipped her beautiful body and took my pleasure from hers. I made sure to memorize the feel of her tattoo on my skin, at my fingers and on my tongue. I traced her flesh with my hands and mouth and made a mental map of each curve, each hillock and each valley. The freckles on her shoulders that she'd brought with her from humanity were etched onto my mind as I loved her.

When we were both once again spent I carried her to our bathroom and lowered her into the tub. I lay back against the head rest and took her into my arms as I cradled her against my chest. We lay like that, looking up at the stars through the glass ceiling until the water began to cool. And then I had her again.

The water heightened our emotions, sharpened our senses and intensified our mental and physical feelings because we had always been, even before her change, so at home together in the water. Our mutual climax in the tub was intense, extreme and totally silent as we had our fill of each other.

Our thoughts mingled, our need to express our love to each other was done in complete outward silence. But on the inside, inside our connection, we were free to say whatever we liked, and we did.

When the water was completely cool I carried her from the tub and stood her in the centre of our bathroom. I dried her skin and brushed her hair out. I took her to our bed and held her until the sun began to rise over the mountains.

We listened intently as our daughter woke, for the first and last time, in the arms of her beloved.

As I held mine in my arms in our bed for the last time I said a last silent goodbye to the cottage.

As Seth woke and took Nessa into the bathroom to begin preparing her for her day I rose from our bed and held out my hand for my wife. "Come, Bella. We'll spend the morning at the big house."

She rolled to the side of the bed and put her hand in mine. She lifted sad eyes to mine and smiled. "With our family, Edward." She replied.

All I could do was nod. We'd spend our last hours together with our family and our friends.

**BPOV**

The big house was teeming, of course. There were so many of us now it would be impossible to know if someone was missing. I tried to keep both Edward and Nessa in my sights but it was a wasted effort. Everyone wanted a moment with Nessa. Everyone had something to say to her, something to give her and everyone wanted to cuddle and coddle her.

She took it well for a six year old. She sat when asked to sit. She spoke when spoken to and she used her gift to show anyone who asked whatever they wanted to see of her history.

Alice had told us all that we'd need to be in the clearing by midday so we had a few hours to just be together. Last night I'd felt as though there was nothing left to say but this morning I felt as though there would never be enough hours to say all I wanted to.

I tried my best to single out the family, to find them individually and either share a word or a touch, but it was hard. They all had others they needed to find, others they needed to connect with before we headed off for the last time.

Seth left us at eight. He would go home and see his parents and the elders. He'd have the chance to kiss them goodbye, to tell them he loved them. And then he'd bring his pack to the big house. We'd travel to the clearing all together. If we were going to stand united we'd damn well do everything we could together to the last.

Edward and I had not said our final words to each other and I was trying my hardest to put that scene out of my mind for now. It would not be our last until he left me in my spot, ready for battle, in the clearing. When he walked away from me then, to take his place as head of our assembled army, then it would be our last. Then I would say my peace. Until then there was time to be together.

Whilst I was marginally okay with keeping an eye on Nessa I was loathe to let go of Edward. I understood the need for others to be with Nessa. But Edward was mine and I needed to be near him now.

That is why it hurt so badly when he took his leave to Charlie's. I'd agreed to let him go only because he'd promised to be gone only half an hour. One minute after that ticked over I too would be running towards my parent's house. I could spare him for thirty minutes, no longer.

I had no idea what he needed to do there and I didn't actually care. If he was making plans for after, well, good. If he was hatching some plan, excellent. If it was to do with whatever Alice had seen yesterday, well, then I just hoped I'd live long enough to see what it had been.

**EPOV**

I needed just half an hour to put into place what needed to be done to rectify the Eric situation. I went to Bella and took her hand into mine. "I need to see Charlie, I'll be back in half an hour, no more, I swear." I told her.

She cringed but nodded.

I flew up to Carlisle's study and dove into the open safe. He'd told us all that it would be open this morning. That we should do what we needed to do with its contents. I'd already collected everything I needed personally from it, Charlie and Renee had all the papers and legal documents already. What I wanted from it today was not mine.

I stuffed the wad of papers into an envelope and grabbed a prepaid cell phone from the stack at the back of Carlisle's desk drawer. We always had them on hand in case we needed extras. We tended to break quite a few. Others we needed for anonymous calls, sometimes being a vampire meant bending some rules.

I put the whole lot into a backpack folder and flew out the front door before anyone could stop to ask where I was going. I ran to Charlie's as fast as I could. He answered the door in his robe but I had no time for embarrassment this morning.

"Charlie I need to use your laptop, it's important." I told him by way of greeting.

"Sure, sure, come in." He stepped aside and I sat the little kitchen table. He brought me his laptop and I waited as patiently as possible for it to boot. Charlie made himself a coffee and then sat beside me just as I was connecting to the airline web page. "Going somewhere?" He asked.

"No. But if we survive the fight today Emmett and Rose are." I told him as I put my credit card details into the little boxes and hit enter.

"Are my girls alright, Edward?" He asked.

"They are. We won't be going to the clearing until midday Charlie. For now they're at the house with everyone else." Next I went to a car rental place and booked a car at the other end. Then I opened a clean document and began to type. I went as fast as I could go, needing to be back at the house within the half hour limit I'd given Bella. I knew she'd come looking for me if I returned late and I didn't want her to have to have an actual goodbye with her parents. We'd done all that the night at the cottage. It would be too much for her, and for Nessa, to have to go through it again. I saved the document to Charlie's desktop and called it 'Instructions for Emmett' so Charlie would know what it was.

I turned the laptop around and pointed to the document. "What do you need me to do, son?" Charlie asked.

I smiled. He was a smart, smart man. "Thanks Charlie. Can you print that out for me?" He nodded and I pulled out the manilla folder. "I need all this to find its way to the airport in Port Angeles. I need a rented locker in Emmett's name and I need all this to be in it as soon as possible. Can you make that happen for me Charlie?"

He was wondering why I thought Emmett and Rose were going to survive but nobody else. "I can do that. I'll get a courier to take it, no problem." He told me.

"I don't know if anyone is going to make it Charlie, there's no way to tell. But, if we do survive, Emmett and Rosie need to be in Maine as soon as possible." I told him.

"Maine?" He asked with raised eyebrows.

I sighed, looked down at my watch and saw I had plenty of time to explain it to him. Who knew, if we didn't make it maybe he could help the girl? "Yes, Maine. We have a guest with us who has gotten a human girl pregnant. She's due any day. Alice knows he's not going to make it home, ever." I let that sink in before continuing, "She's going to die giving birth Charlie. She didn't want to be changed before and it's too late to do it now. If she dies alone so does that baby. If we survive Rosie and Em are going to retrieve it. But I can't tell them before the fight, it has to be after." I left it at that. I was out of time.

"Jesus." Charlie whispered.

I could hear Renee moving about upstairs and knew it was my time to leave. I didn't want to face her, didn't want her to look at me and know it was my fault she was about to lose her child and grandchild.

"I have to go Charlie but I need one more favour." I took my wallet out and flung a wad of cash onto the table. "Can you buy two sets of clothes, one for Em and one for Rose and stuff them into the locker too?"

"Sure." He said and began to scuff the back of his neck with his hand.

He was thinking how hard it was going to be to have to say goodbye to me just now. I knew I had to make it fast, painless. So I reached my hand across the table. He took it and we shook. "Thank you for everything, dad."

His eyes lit up at the endearment. "Good luck, son." He told me.

I shook his hand once more and then I ran. As fast as I could, back to the big house.

**BPOV**

I didn't relax again until I saw Edward slip back in through the back door. I looked at the clock above the mantle and saw that he'd made it with two minutes to spare. It was my smiling mouth he kissed ten seconds later as he came to me.

"I missed you Mrs Cullen." He whispered as he buried his nose into my hair.

I clung to his shirt front, my fingers digging into his chest. "Don't leave me again, please." I begged.

He stiffened, as if he sensed just how close to hysteria I was. "Never." He whispered in reply.

He held my hand and pressed his free one to the small of my back as we moved around the house. We talked briefly with as many people as we could. Everyone was upbeat and the nervous excitement in the room was contagious. Most seemed eager to begin but others, I could tell, were being brave for their mates.

Most were happy to be together and small groups formed through the whole house as the hours ticked away.

At eleven Carlisle asked all his children to meet in his study. _That_ began my panic anew. I didn't want this part. The bit where I'd have to say my goodbyes, knowing that it was all my fault. If I'd have protected us from pregnancy, been smarter or waited until after we were married like we should have, none of this would be coming about. Of course I loved and wanted Nessa, there was nothing more important to me than Nessa, even Edward. But the knowledge that had I just been more patient with my physical desire for Edward we could've avoided this ate at me.

Tanya told me she'd watch over Nessa while we were up there. I thanked her gratefully.

Carlisle and Esme went up the stairs first. The six of us 'children' watched them walk up there hand in hand. Rosie winked at me as she went by, her hand in Emmett's. Edward tugged me up the stairs behind him. I was reluctant to go in and he knew it. He held my hand firmly and ushered me into the small room none the less. Esme stood behind Carlisle's chair, her hand on his shoulder. She was visibly shaking.

Rosie sat in Emmett's lap on the sofa, leaving a space for me. She patted it and I fell into it, grateful to not have to stand. I doubted my legs would hold me when Carlisle began to speak. Edward came and stood beside me, his hand on my shoulder just like Esme.

Alice and Jasper joined us a moment later. Alice looked as though she was in pain. I guessed she probably was. She was blind to what was going to happen from here on in and I knew how much she hated that. She sat in the visitors chair and Jaz stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders too.

There wasn't a sound in the house then. I wanted to ask Edward if everyone was poised to listen in but I already knew that they were.

We were all focused on Carlisle, waiting for him to speak. He lifted his eyes from the desktop and I held my breath thinking he was about to speak to us as our sire. Instead he looked to Edward. He creased his brow and I knew that he was saying something silently to my husband. Edward's hand at my shoulder tightened a little and then relaxed as Carlisle withdrew his gaze and returned his eyes to the desktop.

Edward drew in a small breath and then he began to speak.

"I want you all to know how much I love you. How much we love you." He squeezed my shoulder. "I want you to know how much it's meant to me that you love our daughter the way that you do." His voice began to lose some of its authorative tone as his emotions welled. I covered his hand with mine and gave it a little squeeze in support.

I'd never expected him to speak. I thought it would be Carlisle, but Edward had assumed the role of leader in this and I guessed now that the time had come that it would be my husband who truly led us into this battle. "You can do this Edward." I whispered to him.

He gave me the tiniest smile and he took another deep breath. I watched him square his shoulders before continuing. "If this is to be the end I'm proud that you'll be standing beside me when it comes." There were several murmurs but nobody put any real voice to their thoughts. They let him continue. "If you survive and we don't, please take care of her. Tell her everyday that we love her. And if someone does get away can they let Charlie and Renee Swan know that we went in love and in no pain. That's all I ask."

He slumped visibly at the end of his speech and Alice jumped to her feet. She ran to him and hugged him tight. She kissed his cheek and while she was still on tip toe she cuffed his ear, "For god's sake don't let emo-boy come back out now. We need General Bossy-Boots, not that little sap you used to be."

Her giggles set me and Esme off straight away. Edward had no chance to wallow then because the whole house erupted into the laughter of the free.

Nothing more was said in the study after that. Edward and Emmett shook hands and then he and Jaz did. But after that all that could be heard were the catcalls from downstairs calling for Edward to come and play.

His eyes met mine and I smiled as wide as I could. "Play for us Edward." I asked as we went down the stairs one last time.

**EPOV**

The wolves arrived as we hit the bottom stair. A giant cheer rent the air as they were welcomed into the throng.

My last hour in the big house was spent at my beloved piano. I tried my best to play as well as I possibly could. I took requests and I refused to play anything slow or dark. Nobody asked for anything like that anyway. There was dancing, singing, clapping and cheering in the big house that morning.

Bella sat beside me, Nessa in her lap, and they both clapped and cheered along with me. Nessa played with me sometimes and at others she merely corrected my mistakes. The laughter that produced was far nicer music than I could ever make myself.

I knew it was nearing time to leave and when Alice came to stand by me at the side of the piano stool I knew I had to finish up. She put her hand on my shoulder, kissed my hair and whispered, "It's time, brother. Lead us."

I took my bow as the assembled crowd clapped.

I kissed my daughter and let her take her bow too.

I put an arm around Bella and held her to me tightly. With Nessa in front of us I waited until the house had quietened again.

"I beg of you, if you have changed your mind, please just leave now while there is still time." Nobody made a move. "Then it is time to fight for what is right."

Nessa ran between Bella and I. I had my brothers and sisters and my mother and father at my side as the clearing came into view for the first time that day.

It was totally empty and for a split second I allowed myself the hope that the Romanians wouldn't come.

"Find your places, say your last. Be ready." Jasper was calling as he ran to the centre of the field and began to pace along the front line of our assembled army.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. If you have please review. **

****

We are on the downhill run now. I have finished this particular book and have written a small sideline piece that will follow it that will map out the outcome of Eric's dalliance with his human woman.

So, on with the war!


	54. Chapter 54

**A/N: There are pieces of dialogue and situations in this chapter that are taken directly from within Breaking Dawn. No copyright infringement is intended. I merely wished to recapture the heartbreaking situations SM has managed to create for us while I wrote my own version of the confrontation. All direct quotes and correlations are done with respect to SM and BD. **

**This is heavy on Edward's point of view and I apologise to those who would've preferred it otherwise. It is done to give the view from the organiser of the formation, from someone that can tell us why certain vampires are placed where they are. Bella can see the action from afar only, while Edward remains at the front of his army. I beg your indulgence, Edward's insight was much more interesting. **

Chapter 54 – In Case of Doubt, Attack. – General G.S. Patton

54.

**EPOV**

Everyone scattered as we entered the clearing. Men and women ran this way and that. Either finding their positions or saying their last goodbyes or words of encouragement to friends and mates.

Bella and Nessa still stood beside me. Nessa clinging to my leg, Bella clinging to my arm. There would be little time for goodbyes for us and that was just how I'd planned it. I couldn't bear to actually say the words. It would be like typing _The End_ on the last page of a novel, too agonising for me to contemplate.

I scooped Nessa up into my arms one last time and kissed her at her little cheek. "Daddy loves you so much little one. Please, don't ever forget that, whatever happens today know that I love you more than anyone or anything ever could." She was crying now, great fat tears falling from her chocolate brown eyes. I hugged her then put her back on her feet. I pulled her mother to me and kissed her hair. "Take her to her place, Bella. I'll be there in a moment." I told my wife.

She was trembling but thankfully she did as I asked and took Nessa to the second last row.

Both Peter and Jasper were pacing up and down the length of the clearing shouting orders and changes to the assembled crowd. There were only a few out of place now, the last desperate efforts of those who were going to have to fight far away from their mates and friends.

I strode to Jasper's side and turned my back on the empty northern side of the clearing. We didn't have long before I'd be able to hear the first thoughts of the advancing guard and I wanted to use the time wisely.

"Switch with Quil there Jared or you'll never see." Peter instructed and the two boys shifted places, bringing Quil to the front line as Jared dropped back.

Aro was kissing Tanya passionately. Samuel was walking Angelica and Nathaniel back towards the far right hand corner of the clearing. Viktor was being ushered there too. The four English vampires had taken up a position there and would watch over him as things unfolded.

I walked to the midpoint of the front line and then doubled back along it. When I was at the extreme right I began to thank each person individually. I shook every hand along it in turn. Quil, Jonathon who assured me he was ready, and then Zuhar who was twitching with anticipation. Next was Alex (Furkan) who was chanting his instructions in his mind as I past him. Our own personal lie detector Charles was next and where he stood was the beginning of the arrow head that would be where I was going to stand. Beside Charles but ahead half a span was Carlisle. He was praying and as I past him he bobbed his head. I moved past my space and shook Benjamin's hand. I glared at Eleazar who had the intelligence not to even meet my eyes as I went by and shook Sam's hot hand.

"Good luck Sam. Thanks for everything." I told him.

"You are most welcome, Edward. It will be an honour to fight with you today." He bowed his head.

"You too Sam. Stay close, won't you?" I implored him.

He was still nodding as I moved on to shake Paul's hand. Eric was next and I took extra time to thank him for coming. Knowing what I did I couldn't quite meet his eyes, his thoughts betrayed nothing, however. "Good luck, brother." I told him honestly. Alice's visions were subjective, one change in circumstance and everything could change with it. I had to hope it would, but knew I was powerless to instigate the change myself.

Eric replied in kind and went back to strategising with Paul and Sam as I passed on to Leah and Alistair. They had their heads together still working on the finer points of what I'd asked them to do. They both shook my hand but paid no mind to anything else. Embry, Colin and Brady made up the last three souls in the front row and they each had a kind word for me as I shook their hands.

Everyone had a place and each place was a strategic force, but I still felt desperately guilty that they were here at all.

Jasper and Peter made their way to their places just as I began to make my way through the centre of the second row. Seth, still in his human form as all the wolves were, was shaking as he was sandwiched in between the two boys. Jasper had a hand on his shoulder and was whispering to him to calm down, to not let Nessa see him upset.

"Go to her for a bit longer, son." I told him and he ran straight down the middle of the rows to Nessa's side. I couldn't watch them so I turned back to Jasper and Peter and shook their hands in turn. "Good luck." I told them both.

"Won't need luck we've got the numbers and we've used them wisely." Peter told me as he clapped me on the back.

"I agree. It's in the bag Ed." Jasper too clapped me on the back and I left them to it.

The row behind them held Emmett, Pin, Lu Hu and Tu. Thanking my brother was tough. He was a huge man but had the softest heart. He wasn't scared but he was worried, for Nessa mostly. It took all I had to thank him. The Asians were stoic and resigned in their thoughts. Having been through this before they knew better than anyone the strength of what we were facing. But they were here, willing to try again. I hoped it would work this time.

The fourth row had Abel at the eastern edge. Beside him was Lim whose thoughts were also with the previous fight he'd participated in with his coven. He wished me luck and said he'd fight hard for me.

Siobhan and Liam stood side by side and promised to do their very best for us. It was all I could ask. Rau, Sima and Maggie made up the rest of their row. Maggie stood directly behind Charles in the arrowhead formation and together they'd be able to tell me what was right and what were outright lies. They were going to be critical and I thanked Maggie profusely for agreeing to her part in today.

Big tall Jared was at the edge of the next row. He was shivering with the desire to phase but I knew Sam wouldn't give the order until I let him know I could hear the Romanians thoughts as they approached. Adam, Garrett and Randall stood side by side discussing how to get the best shot at the guard. Each shook my hand and each had a kind word for me and my family. Makenna waved away my thanks and told me to have a good fight.

Rennie, Anna, Maria and Su were next. I thanked them as a group. Their thoughts were concentrated on what I'd asked them to do so I left them to their chanting. Demetri stood beside Kate who stood beside the empty space that would hold Eleazar should the negotiations fail. Kate was trembling and I hugged her tightly.

Holly too was chanting her instructions in her head when I came to her. I'd asked her to find Alec in the guard and begin to map his features. Should she need to escort Nessa away I wanted her in the guise of one of the Romanians if it was possible. So as she waited she chanted the physical features of her intended target. She nodded but said nothing verbally as I thanked her for her efforts.

Aro didn't wait for me to approach him in his place. He closed the distance between us and took my hand into his. "We'll fight like the devil. I didn't find Tanya only to lose her this soon my friend."

I smiled first at him then at Tanya. She too was trembling. I took her to me as I had her sister Kate. I whispered my thanks to her and quickly moved on. Leah's mate Jack flanked Mary who would be invaluable should one of the wolves be hurt at some point. Tia, Ivana, Julian and Beatriz made up the extremities of the eastern side of this line.

Samuel stood behind his mate in the second to last row. This was a staggered row that we called rows five and six on the war map. It was really two short rows joined by Bella Nessa and Esme in the centre in a little dog legged shaped space. It was designed to protect them as much as possible without compromising the view everyone would need of their opponent. It had been Jasper's idea and it looked like it was going to work perfectly.

Samuel assured me he'd keep a keen eye on the hybrids at the rear of the clearing. I thanked him and moved on to Mehmet, Busra and Svetlana who made up the central part of the sixth row on this side. The Turks were particularly eager for the fighting to begin. Their human culture had meant they had served compulsory military training and they'd bought that knowledge with them when they'd been changed.

Russian Rose, Susan and Charlotte flanked Rosie who was stood slightly forward of Esme. It was so hard to stay stony faced for Rosie. She was so scared she was close to hysteria. She wanted to run. She wanted us to run. She knew how futile it was, but she wanted it all the same.

I pulled her to me and kissed her temple. "I love you Rosie. We'll be fine." I told her with a confidence I didn't feel.

"Of course we will be." She said sarcastically. "If I break a nail I'll be pissed." She looked down at her nails then so that I couldn't see her eyes.

I laughed as she expected me to but moved on quickly.

I moved to the rear row then, avoiding my mother and family. I thanked Ethan and Melinda for coming and for fighting with us. I made sure Senna, Zafrina and Kachiri were alright and that they were still happy to take up the rear guard. They were.

Renata and Marcus made up the last two on the western edge of that back row and they had a good, clear view to the front through the holes Jasper had created for them. They stood hand in hand ready for whatever was coming.

I took a step forward and shook Dieter's hand. He stood beside Bella, ready to trace her scent should she be separated from us or she managed to run with Nessa.

Irina and Carmen were the last two I had to thank. Irina folded herself into my chest and sobbed quietly as I kissed her temple. She was utterly terrified. I mouthed thank you to her and went to my wife's row.

Once again I scooped Nessa up and kissed her little cheek. "Be brave my beauty." I implored her. I set her back on her feet when she'd promised me she'd look after her mother for me.

I took one pace to the left and took my sobbing mother into my arms. Her thoughts were only for me and my family. How unfair it was that we had to fight for them once again. "Shh, it's alright. Shh." I tried my best to calm her. I knew if she was visibly upset Nessa would be too. "I love you, mom. This will all be over soon and you can go home and cook a feast." I told her with a smile.

She let me go and put her hand to my cheek. "You're a good boy Edward. I love you. Please, be careful." She asked of me before putting her hand to her heart.

I mirrored the action and mouthed I love you in return. She turned then, Rosie folded her into her arms and I left them to go to Bella.

I stood before my beautiful wife for what, quite possibly, was going to be the last time. I smiled as genuinely as I could. I took her hand and kissed it, keeping it in mine. I used my free hand to tuck a hair behind her ear then I let my fingers trail from her cheekbone to her chin. I pulled her forward and kissed her softly.

"True love never dies." I whispered. She gasped and clutched at my shirt front. I needed this to be as quick and as painless as possible. We were out of time for anything else. "I've loved you since the moment I saw you. Never forget it. True love never dies. I'll find you when this is done, I swear."

"I love you Edward. I've never loved anyone but you. I'm so proud of you." She slid her hand into her pocket and held my hand in hers. She opened her fist and I felt the cold sting of metal as whatever it was she held was dropped into my possession. "Keep it with you, that way we'll be together. Return it to me when this is over. I love you, always. Go." She kissed me once more on the lips then turned to take Nessa into her arms.

I clutched the metal object in my fist and turned to go back to the head of my row.

As I took my position in front of my father and beside Eleazar and Benjamin I allowed myself a glimpse of what she'd put into my hand. I let out a choked sob when I saw it was her locket.

I prised the two halves open and saw our engraved names on the little gold discs inside it. I snapped it shut just as the first mental voices reached me from the northern side of the forest. "Three minutes from the north." I said quietly knowing everyone in the clearing could hear me perfectly. I put the locket into my pocket and withdrew my cell phone.

She answered on the first ring. "Alice. Three minutes and coming in fast. North side as you predicted. I love you little one and thank you for everything. Stay safe up there."

Alice was two miles away to the east in a little rocky hollow at the foot of a small hill. We hoped it was far enough away for her to be able to see how things were going to unfold but close enough for me to still be able to hear her thoughts and see her visions. So far it wasn't working, I'd heard the Romanians approach, and she'd not seen it.

"I love you too big brother. Be careful, see you on the flip side." She rang off and I was grateful that she'd been brief and I'd not had to say my goodbyes to her in person.

I turned and looked past Eleazar, "Sam, call your wolves to phase please."

Sam howled softly and all at once ten minds changed from human to wolf thoughts as their bodies shivered and shook their way into their fur. A few of the assembled crowd startled having never seen it before. Some gasped, some cheered.

As the first black cloaks came swirling through the trees on the far side of the forest my armies gasps were drowned out by the shocked shrieks of the stunned Romanian guard.

**BPOV**

The murmur began in the front rows and moved back towards us at the rear slowly. They'd arrived. The ones at the front could see them already, I was going to have to wait a little longer back here in the stalls.

I had Eleazar's empty spot in front of me but Edward and Jasper had arranged everyone so that neither Nessa nor I could be seen from the other side of the clearing. It had made sense at the start, another way to protect us, but right then it felt like a cop out.

I'd counted us a few times and kept coming up with seventy-four, which just couldn't be right. How in hell did we manage to amass that many? Plus Nessa. Not including the English who would sit out and Viktor who was incapable. Then add Nathaniel and Angelica who weren't able to fight. It was a huge number. I felt Alice's absence acutely. I'd wanted her at my side but was also grateful that she'd be far enough away to run if she could.

When the murmuring died down I knew that the Romanians had arrived properly. I could see a few black cloaks between the ranks but they were a fair distance away, facing us from the northern side of the clearing.

It looked as though they'd spread out too. They probably hoped they looked imposing. I could only see the backs of the rows on our side but I knew how impressive we looked, even from this angle. I'd seen the updated war map after Eleazar imparted his limited wisdom on the guard and I knew that Jasper was confident we'd out number them nearly four to one. They were good odds if the deck wasn't stacked against us. I hoped Eleazar's information was right.

With Nessa pressed up against my thighs and my hand in Esme's I shifted slightly to my left. They came with me. It was only a small movement but it was enough for me to get a clearer view between where Carlisle and Edward stood. Emmett was too big to see around so I could only see their shoulders, but it would have to do.

"Edward?" Jasper asked, low and anxious.

"They're not sure how to proceed. They're weighing options, choosing key targets – me, of course, you, Eleazar, Benjamin, and Demetri. They're searching for Alice. Nicolau is reading the strength of our ties to each other, looking for weak points. He sees none." Edward chuckled low as if he was proud of that fact. "The number of wolves irritates them. They're worried about the faces they don't recognise, the talents they can't quantify. Vladimir doesn't like the look of our Alex nor is he too amused to see Jonathon. They've never been outnumbered before, that's what's stopped them coming any closer, for now."

"Should I speak?" I looked to see where the voice had come from and was horrified to see Carlisle slowly making his way forward, past the front line of Edward, Eleazar, Benjamin and Sam and out into the middle of the clearing. I wanted to shout to tell him to come back, to stay with us, to not die alone, but it would have been futile. Edward was nodding and telling Carlisle that it might be his only chance to speak and if he so wanted, he should take it.

Esme clutched my hand tighter as she too realized it was Carlisle who had moved from the front row. I threw her a small smile of support and held onto her tightly.

Carlisle spread his arms, holding his palms up as if in greeting. "Stefan my old friend. It's been centuries." He spoke across the hundred or so feet that separated the two groups.

I peered around Emmett again and got my first look at Stefan. I knew which one he was because Edward had described him perfectly. He thought he was Dracula! In reality he looked like a greedy, beaky effeminate little man with a bad attitude.

The clearing was silent for a long moment. The tension rolling off our group was increasing with each second that Stefan stayed mute after Carlisle's greeting.

Just as I was sure someone on our side was about to break the silence Stefan stepped slightly forward, his shield Vasile moving with him as though he were glued to the cloak of his master. The Romanian guard began to twitter and mutter as their leader moved, but Stefan steadied them with a single hand raised above his head. "Peace." He muttered and they instantly quieted. He walked only a few paces more, hardly to the centre as Carlisle had, and I wondered if he was frightened. He looked as though he might be. "Fair words Carlisle, though calling me friend seems out of place considering the size of the army you have assembled to kill me, and to kill my dear ones."

He turned slightly to face the back of his own formation and nodded towards the three hunched figures that stood near the far edge of the trees. Two women and a boy. I didn't know who these people were, they certainly weren't on the war map. I couldn't see them clearly enough, obscured partially as they were by the woman who could only be the enforcer Ariana who stood behind where Stefan had come from.

Carlisle shook his head and stretched out a hand towards Stefan. "You have but to touch my hand to know that was never my intent."

I watched with interest. Edward had told me about Stefan's gift for tactile telepathy. With one touch of his hand to yours he could read every thought in your head. But not like Edward, no, Stefan's gift was far more invasive than Edward's could ever be. Stefan could see everything, not just the things you were thinking _while_ he touched you, but everything you'd EVER thought. Including memories and situations long since past. He would have your entire history laid out before him with a simple touch. It had its limitations, however. If the touch was fast enough he wouldn't have time to gather every thought. That's where Ariana came in. She had the horrible ability to numb you, completely, while her master delved into your head.

Carlisle still stood with his hand out for Stefan, but Stefan looked unimpressed by the offering. His shrewd eyes narrowed. "But how can your intent possibly matter Carlisle? You have, in fact, raised an army. If your intention was not to kill me then what use are these?" He swept his hand along the assembly on our side of the clearing.

Edward stepped forward then and I gasped. I hadn't meant to. But the thought of him out there, in front of that bastard, unprotected and without me crucified me. Esme's free hand sprang out from her side and clutched my upper arm, holding me still, preventing me from rushing forward.

"Witnesses Stefan, just as you have brought." Edward said quietly. "Any one of our friends gathered here can tell you that these wolves are not werewolves, they are no threat to you or anyone else. Anyone here will tell you they are our friends." Edward pled.

"Lies!" Vladimir snapped. He moved forward to join his brother in front of Edward and Carlisle. He was followed by the one I knew to be Constantin. "Where is the traitor? Let him come forward!" Vladimir craned his head and peered around Edward to where Eleazar stood. "You! Come!"

Eleazar made his way to the front to join Edward and Carlisle and took up a position between them. I had no such qualms about Eleazar being near them and I knew I should feel guilty about that. I did not.

"You call me 'traitor', brother?" Eleazar snarled at Vladimir.

Vladimir allowed his upper lip to curl with derision before he answered. "I do. You bring us the knowledge of an alliance formed between Cullen and wolf and then you stand with them against us. That makes you a traitor, not a brother." Vladimir retorted.

"I am sorry you see it that way." Eleazar scoffed. "But if you will take the time to see you will realize these are not werewolves, these are shape shifters, as I have explained time and time again." He turned to the formation and pointed to a few of the wolves as if to punctuate his point. Turning back to his former coven mates he tried another tack. "If you will allow it I can call one forward and show you they are human beneath their furs."

An agonised roar came from Vladimir as he leapt backward, away from Eleazar. "You dare to bring a werewolf nearer to me? You dare to betray us this way? Take your place in their army Eleazar, you'll get no lenience from us."

Eleazar bowed his head but didn't move. "There are none so blind as those that will not see, brother." He muttered. "I shall take my place in the assembly Vladimir, but not because you order me to, but because it is my proper place. You are wrong, brother, and it is you who shall perish today for your beliefs."

With that he turned on his heel and walked back towards the first line. He shook Benjamin's hand and moved between Seth and Jasper then made his way to the small space in front of me. When he got there he took my free hand in his. He bowed low over it, kissed the back of my hand and then raised his eyes to mine. "Forgive me my part in this, please. I will gladly fight in front of you, none shall get through me, this I swear to you." He dropped my hand and turned to face the front once again.

Esme squeezed my hand but said nothing.

So much for negotiations.

**EPOV**

"Bring the werewolf to me, the one who dares to bond with a vampire." Stefan sneered.

I wanted to strike him then. To take the superior look off his face. I wanted him on his knees before me. I had never felt so vengeful, so totally without control over my anger. I turned before it leapt from me and I tore him to shreds, dooming us all to the mercy of the guards. I searched the gathering for my wife and found her eyes. Her hand was clasped in Esme's and they were both shaking visibly. Nessa stood in front of Bella, her hands behind her back where she was pressed up against her mother's thighs.

As I moved toward Seth I closed my eyes at Bella, silently telling her to just hang on. She closed her eyes in return and I had to hope that the gesture was one of trust and not one borne from abject fear.

I put a hand on Seth's shoulder. My fingers sunk inches down into his soft fur. When I found his flesh he too was shaking. His thoughts were steady though. He was prepared for this; we knew this was always going to happen, that Stefan would want to come face to face with him. Nobody could say, however, what the outcome of the meeting was to be.

I took half a second to sift through the thoughts available to me. Alice was watching carefully, desperate for a glimpse or hint of what was to come, unfortunately there was nothing for her to see. Maggie and Charles were working hard to determine the authenticity of Stefan and Vladimir's words, but as yet there was nothing for them to work with. They'd not told any lies because they'd not disclosed the reasoning behind their visit as yet.

"You'll be fine Seth, I'll be right there. Come." I told him firmly and felt his head nod twice.

'_Careful with my Sethy, daddy.' _Renesmee begged as I put my hand on Seth's front shoulder.

I sought her eyes and smiled when I found them. I nodded minutely and then turned my attention back to Seth. "Come." I said again.

I turned and together we walked back to the centre of the clearing. We'd planned this so well, talked over every aspect of what Seth would do and say at this point, so it was no shock to me that he phased back to his human form as we approached where Stefan and Vladimir stood.

Florin, Stefan's personal guard, stiffened and took a small step to join his master in the centre of the clearing. Stefan himself leapt away from us and began cursing in Romanian. He was utterly terrified of Seth. Not because he thought him to be a werewolf but because he had no idea what he actually was. They'd not thought this far ahead. That we _would_ be able to prove that our alliance was with shifters, not weres.

I allowed myself a small smile as Seth and I came to a complete stop at the edge of the discussion. For that was all it was, for now.

"Now then, surely you must agree that this is not a werewolf Stefan, this is a man." I said with a smile on my lips. "Go ahead Seth."

Seth stepped half a step forward and offered his hand to Stefan. The old man flinched noticeably and shook his head minutely. "No." He whispered.

Seth chortled almost imperceptibly. He extended the same hand to Vladimir and I was surprised and impressed that he took it without too much hesitation. He shook Seth's hand and mentally noted the heat that radiated from him. "You are human?" Vladimir asked cautiously.

"Of course I am." Seth said with a grin. "Even more than you are." He added for good measure.

Mentally I was high fiving the kid, he had balls, that was for sure, but internally I was cringing. Getting out of this by having a conversation was infinitely better than fighting it out. There was no need to be smug or to prod the sleeping lion. "Seth." I admonished quietly.

He turned to me and smiled. '_Sorry, couldn't help it.' _He grimaced a little and came to stand between Carlisle and I once again.

"As you can see this lad is no more a werewolf than I am Stefan." Carlisle said reasonably. "They are not the Children of the Moon you have sought to extinction, Vladimir. They bear no resemblance."

Stefan pondered this for a few moments before looking past me to the gathered wolves on either side of our family and friends. I'd positioned them at the front of the ranks, easily identifiable, easily recognisable and easily the largest beasts the two brothers had encountered for an age. Stefan was counting them. When he numbered them he looked to Vladimir who, I thought, was beginning to regret their coming. "It's a trick." Stefan announced, effectively ending any attempts we had made at a peaceable ending. "You're breeding mutants to trick us!" He roared at me.

"I have bred nothing other than my own child. I offer my hand to you as proof of it." I nodded to Seth who made his way back to his place in the formation. I heard the ripple of the air around him and knew he was once again in his wolf form. I held my hand out to Stefan and awaited his decision.

He didn't hesitate this time. He stepped forward and gripped my hand tightly. I felt nothing, of course, his ability was a mental one. His lips twisted into a sick grin as he read from me. A few moments passed and the expression on his face began to match the thoughts in his head. The way to get at me was through Bella. "Your mate is lovely. I'd like to meet her." He hissed as he dropped my hand.

"There is no need, you've just met her, in my head." I said a little more firmly than I'd originally intended.

'_Calm down Ed.' _I heard from Jasper as his calming wave washed over me.

Vladimir was grinning now too. They both sensed my unease, knew I didn't want Bella or Nessa anywhere near them. But at this point they held all the cards and they knew it. If I refused they'd attack. If I acquiesced they'd be able to use them as leverage. "Yes, let us meet the newest Mrs Cullen. Oh, and the child. Bring her to me." Vladimir licked his lips and my stomach lurched.

Gabriella, Vladimir's personal shield moved forward then and took up her usual position beside her master. Vasile too adjusted his position to better protect Stefan. I almost snorted with derision when I read this from his intentions. As if Bella or Renesmee meant to do Stefan or Vladimir harm!

"As you wish." I whispered. I turned back to the formation and sought Bella's eyes. They were full of fear, as were Esme's. I smiled hoping to reassure them. "Bella, bring Renesmee...and a few friends."

We'd rehearsed this too, just not with Bella. Those who knew they were needed began to move within the ranks. I watched as Nessa took her mother's hand and allowed herself to be lead through the rows towards me. Emmett moved with them as they came to the front. Paul came from his position beside Sam and Jasper broke ranks and stood beside the hulking wolf on Nessa's right. They made an imposing spectacle as they moved toward me.

I slipped in beside Bella and moved with the small group to stand before the Romanians.

Stefan paid no mind to our 'friends' instead concentrating on Bella. I took a small glance sideways at my wife and was astounded to see her chin forward in defiance, staring back at Stefan as though he was a speck of dust under her shoe.

"My mate, Isabella." I presented her feebly, hoping they had no use for her other than just wanting to eyeball her, letting the guard get a glimpse of her so they'd know their target later. Not that that was a good outcome, but it was better than letting these pricks man handle her.

"How lovely it is to meet you." Stefan reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. His eyes were sparkling with interest as he released her hand. "A fine shield." He murmured. He'd seen nothing from her, not a spark nor any insight into whom or what she was.

Vladimir stepped closer and he too bent over her hand and kissed it lightly. "A pleasure." He snorted.

Bella said nothing, merely stepped back and took my hand again.

"May I make your child's acquaintance Isabella?" Stefan asked.

"You can ask her, she has a voice of her own." Bella said indignantly.

I almost choked as I held back my laughter. Stefan, however, was unimpressed with Bella's lack of respect. "Come forward child." He barked at Nessa.

Bella stiffened but I held her with my hand. Carlisle was silently cursing and Emmett was getting ready to just snap his head clean off his shoulders. I expected Nessa to walk forward so I released her hand and waited.

I saw the thoughts forming but could do nothing about it before she'd spoken. "The magic word is please." She put her hand on her hip and waited for Stefan to ask nicely.

He brought his eyes to mine and he cursed me as well as Bella for bringing such a disrespectful child into the world. "Come forward, please." He squeezed out from between clenched teeth.

Emmett was shouting 'atta girl munchkin' in his head as Nessa bowed regally and stepped forward, putting her hand in his.

'_You will withdraw the child the instant the coward drops her hand Edward Cullen. Trust Zafrina. Make ready.' _I heard her thought as clearly as if she were standing beside me. It frightened me. I tensed, making Bella startle and Nessa look over her shoulder at me just as Stefan bent to kiss her little hand.

I recovered as best I could and shot both girls a small smile. Nessa returned her attention to Stefan. "I am pleased to meet you Mr Rominian." She trilled in her little sing song voice. All through our formation there was giggling and chortling as Nessa mispronounced the name again.

Vladimir scoffed but said nothing out loud. Inside he was seething that this impertinent child was entertaining those who should be quaking with fear at his mere presence.

Stefan was intrigued but just as angry. He still had her hand in his and was preparing to delve into her thoughts. Nessa snickered in her head and I braced for whatever it was she was about to do. I watched with awe as my six year old daughter showed a two thousand year old vampire his impending death at my hands. It was as though the scene was being played on a television screen it was so clear, so precise.

He roared as if he was in pain and dropped Nessa's hand. I clutched at her shoulders and drew her to me then pushed her behind me. "Take her back." I hissed at Bella to make sure she knew I was serious. She knew. She had Nessa in her hands and was running back to her place in the line before Stefan had a chance to recover from what he'd been shown.

Emmett, Paul and Jasper returned to their places without a word.

"What is it?" Vladimir barked.

Stefan looked to me for an explanation. Of course I had none. This must have been what Zafrina had been teaching Nessa at the cottage in the afternoons. How to manipulate her gift so that she could show whatever she wanted to whomever she wanted to show it. It was obviously meant to scare Stefan enough for him to back down. I doubted it would work but was impressed that a six year old had the courage to try it all the same. It was a dangerous ploy though.

"Carlisle, where is your seer?" Stefan demanded, referring to Alice.

"Away." Carlisle said simply.

"Is the child a seer?" He asked, totally rattled. He was unsure if what he'd just seen was a precognition of Nessa's or a trick of memory and image manipulation. He knew he wasn't going to get at the truth by asking, however.

When Carlisle held his ground and didn't answer Stefan made ready to call on Jane. He turned and looked for her. She was right where she was supposed to be. Beside her brother Alec and just where Jasper had hoped she'd be placed. We had planned to distract her using the biggest wolves but it turned out we needn't have worried.

Just as Jane was preparing to infest Carlisle's mind with unfettered agony Zafrina projected the image of Alec on his knees at Sam's mercy. Jane cried out and clutched at her temples. She was useless to Stefan while she searched desperately for a way to free her beloved brother from the giant wolf. It was a horrifying image and yet I felt no sympathy for the evil witch who was being forced to see it. It may have been trickery but it served its purpose.

Ironically Vladimir was appalled that we'd resorted to physical violence but he said nothing, knowing that incapacitating Jane, without laying a finger on her, was powerful in and of itself. I was delighted when he motioned for Constantin to move aside and allow his master to retake his position in the line. He felt safer only when he was once again standing between Constantin and Gabriella.

Stefan, however, had another trick up his sleeve. "Ariana, show our Amazonian friend how we deal with sorcery." He turned back to us with a sly grin on his face. He was totally convinced that Ariana would incapacitate Zafrina as easily as the giant dark skinned woman had restricted Jane. That would free Jane, who would be able to inflict whatever she pleased onto Carlisle.

I fully expected Zafrina to fall to her knees as Ariana applied her stock and trade. It usually began with a wash of emotional pleasure followed by the sensation of paralysis. When Zafrina failed to fall and Jane continued to whimper at the continued vision in her mind I turned and stared down the row towards the Amazonian women. Zafrina stood with a smirk on her face, her thoughts occupied still by the image of Alec on his knees under Sam as Paul bared his huge teeth at him.

"Edward." Carlisle was speaking my name but I could not reconcile what I was seeing with what Ariana was feeling so I ignored him while I tried to work out what was wrong. _'Bella, its Bella, look at Bella.' _He screamed in his thoughts.

At the mention of her name panic rose in my gut and I immediately turned my attention to her. I couldn't see her very well and while that had been the whole point of the formation we'd chosen it now was a hindrance rather than a help. "Eleazar step aside." I roared across the clearing.

There she stood, deep in a crouch, eyes focused on where we stood at the centre of the clearing. Her teeth were bared and her arms were out to her sides, her palms pushed at an imaginary foe. And then I understood.

Zafrina was safe from Ariana because she was under Bella's shield.

I smiled at my wife and turned back to face Stefan. "Well, it looks like your henchmen, oh excuse me, henchwoman, has failed in her mission. My wife is very good at what she does, isn't she? Your move old man." I chortled knowing I too was prodding the sleeping lion.

* * *

**A/N: Well there you have it. The die is cast. Will it end peacefully or escalate into all out war?**

**I know those who want a war are out there and there are just as many of you who'd much rather see it end as it did in BD with words only. The next chapter will tell you one way or the other. **

**Thank you so much for reading. I plan to finish this quickly now. I loathe stories that get so far into the 'good bits' and then leave you hanging for days. **

**I will update again tomorrow, possibly even tonight if I get my editing hat on quick enough ;)**

**Please review. **


	55. Chapter 55

**A/N: There are pieces of dialogue and situations in this chapter that are taken directly from within Breaking Dawn. No copyright infringement is intended. I merely wished to recapture the heartbreaking situations SM has managed to create for us while I wrote my own version of the confrontation. All direct quotes and correlations are done with respect to SM and BD. **

**Again this will be heavy on Edward's point of view and I apologise to those who would've preferred it otherwise. It is done to give the view from the organiser of the formation, from someone that can tell us why certain vampires are placed where they are. Bella can see the action from afar only, while Edward remains at the front of his army. I beg your indulgence, Edward's insight was much more interesting. **

**As the fight progresses I'll move through other points of view, to give you a look into individual struggles. Again, I beg your indulgence, some insights were far more interesting than others. I'm sorry if a character you really wanted to hear from is left out, but giving voice to eighty odd vampires was impossible. **

Chapter 55 – When you have to kill a man it costs nothing to be polite. – Sir Winston Churchill.

55.

**BPOV**

I could feel Zafrina vibrating behind me as I extended the shield out further, just to be sure.

"Hold it for a little longer child." Zafrina whispered. "I shall withdraw."

I nodded, concentrating hard not to break the spell I was casting. I looked around the clearing and saw just how many people I had tucked underneath my umbrella. Almost all of them. Because they were so pale, and my shield was tinged pink, they all took on an eerie glow as I pushed it out further and further afield. It was easy to see then just who was inside and who was outside the shield itself. I pressed harder and managed to encompass Julian, Colin and Brady at the far right of our formation and was satisfied that the four or five vampires I couldn't quite reach at the far left would be okay where they were, as far away from Jane and Ariana as they could be.

"Nicolau is trying to break our bindings." Edward snorted from his position in the centre of the clearing. Both Stefan and Vladimir had retreated back to their own lines by now. "But he can't find them. He can't feel us here..." He turned and his eyes found mine, again. "Are you doing that?" He asked.

I smiled grimly at him. "I am _all_ over this."

Edward lurched forward again then, his hand reaching out toward Carlisle. At the same time, I felt a much sharper jab against the shield where it wrapped protectively around Carlisles body. It wasn't painful, but it wasn't pleasant, either.

"Carlisle, are you alright?" Edward gasped frantically.

"Yes. Why?"

"Jane." Edward answered, nodding to where Jane now stood glaring at the two of them.

It was obvious to me that Jane was now free of whatever horrible image Zafrina had been tormenting her with. She stood tall and her eyes never left Carlisle's as she aimed her hideous 'gift' towards him. She grew more and more angry with each passing second that I held her back from him.

She grunted in frustration and turned her attention towards our formation. If I had been unsure before about the visible presence of my shield it was confirmed for me now, nobody but me could see it. If Jane could see it she wouldn't have bothered trying to project pain onto any of us who stood behind its protective veil, she'd have gone for the few outside it. But she couldn't see for herself who those were, so she tried to attack our strongest, but it was a wasted effort.

She tried anyway. For quite a while too. Until Stefan called her off with an annoyed looking wave of his hand and a barked command to stand down.

Stefan turned to Vladimir and gave some preordained signal. The two of them dropped back a few paces behind their guards. There was no way for them speak without being heard by us, but still they whispered.

"Brother there is much to consider here." Announced Stefan grandly.

"Let us counsel." Vladimir agreed eagerly.

The two men linked their hands and pulled their ridiculous cloaks about themselves. They bowed their heads as if they were holding a super secret meeting.

Edward turned to me and pushed the palm of his hand up and down a few times. I took this to mean I could lower my shield, so I did. I relaxed it a little until I was sure I was in good control of it. With each foot that I pulled it back in to me I was careful to monitor those that it uncovered. If they flinched or sagged in any way I would be ready to re-erect the invisible veil. I had uncovered two thirds of our group and nobody had reacted in any way so I pulled what was left of my shield back towards myself and with a mighty snap it once again became a part of me.

I must have sighed or groaned because Zafrina moved forward and held me firmly by the shoulders. "Are you alright young one?" She asked.

I nodded, unable to speak. The energy it took for me to project that far, for that long, would take a few minutes to regenerate within me.

"You did so well sweetheart." Esme cooed softly, reaching for my hand once again.

Her fingers felt cooler than normal as she clasped them to mine. I wondered if it was my shield that was hot.

All eyes were on the two brothers as they huddled in the rear of their grouping. I wasn't naive enough to think they were actually considering letting us go but I did hope, faintly. I could hear nothing from either of them and wondered what Edward was reading.

I was about to ask him when the Romanian guard began to shuffle on their feet. Alexi, the monster who would boil our venom in our veins and Nessa and Seth's blood in theirs, began smirking. Ariana was licking her lips and it made my skin crawl. She was enjoying this. Jane too was smiling, her blood red eyes sparkling with excitement as our fate was decided by the furiously gesturing pair at the centre of the problem.

Edward and Carlisle dropped back then. They took their positions at the front of our formation and I saw them both drop into defensive crouches. I gasped, I couldn't help it. I knew what that meant. There was no longer any hope of a peaceful resolution. The two men were deliberating for show only. The decision had been made long before they'd arrived.

"Edward?" I whispered hoping he'd turn and offer me something, anything to tell me what to prepare for. He turned and threw me a thin smile but I had no idea what it meant.

I summoned all the energy I could and prepared to resurrect my shield on his command. It was all I could do, all I had to offer. I knew it would be useless against a physical attack but I could keep Jane and Ariana at bay long enough for someone else to take them out, at the very least.

Nessa was trembling and shaking so badly by now that Esme was having difficulty restraining her. I needed her like never before, wanted to feel her skin on mine, but it just wasn't safe. I needed to concentrate on my shield. "Are you ready Esme?" I asked her quietly. When I gave the word she would pull Renesmee to her and keep her there as the ranks closed in around us. Nothing and nobody would take her from her, I knew that she'd fight to the death before she relinquished my child to anyone without my say so.

"I am. I love you." She whispered.

"I love you too. Wait for me to say." I reminded her. I saw her nodding violently in my peripheral vision but I couldn't afford to take my eyes off Edward now.

Her turned and smiled again. "They've decided." He announced carefully. "Be ready."

I held my breath, as did everyone around me. When Stefan turned to once again face us his face was a mask of cruelty. He didn't move but he lifted his head in Edward's direction and smirked. "You've been found guilty." He smiled smugly.

He lifted his hand in Ariana's direction and I began to force my shield outwards to block her once again. She smiled arrogantly as if taunting me to defy her a second time. I smiled back and did just that.

Stefan let his hand fall and then all hell broke loose.

Just as the first barbs began to hit my shield I yelled 'now' to Esme.

**EPOV**

I heard Stefan's decision long before he announced it. There had never been any doubt, on either side, that he thought us guilty of something. Even though we'd proved that the wolves were humans first, then wolves, he'd come with the intention of wiping out the Cullen clan.

We were strong and we had numbers, even just the Cullen's, and the Romanians couldn't abide the perceived power we held.  
According to them we were a threat to their way of life, their continued pomp and circumstance in the north. If we, at some point, decided to challenge their rule they believed we might possibly prevail. _That_ was what they were here to rectify. This had nothing to do with Nessa or Seth. They were merely the excuse that presented itself at the time.

They really hadn't had any idea that we'd be prepared to fight. Nor had they expected the numbers we'd presented. In fact, that had enraged them, and convinced them that we were power hungry more than anything else.

When I turned and saw Bella at the ready to once again shield us I could do nothing other than smile at her. She was so fucking beautiful, so fucking brave. I'd be damned if I'd let these bastards take her from me.

So I prepared to fight. I felt more confident than I had this morning. Now that I saw the size of the guard for myself and knew that our planning hadn't been for nothing I felt a lot better about what I was about to do.

'_Take Alexi now.'_ It was Jaspers mental voice that came to me clearest. I had no idea what he could see that I couldnt and I didn't have time to try to search for his thoughts again over and above everyone else's in the clearing to find out. I had to trust him.

I was about to give our Alex the signal he was waiting for when the ground beneath my feet began to rumble. A gust of wind blew past me as Benjamin squared his shoulders and set his feet. I could feel the power radiating from him as he pushed his energy towards the centre of the field. I could only gape in wonder as the ground began to peel back on itself leaving a gigantic scar right down the middle of the clearing. It separated us from them more physically than even the two sides drawn on my map had done. The rift was easily eight feet across by the time Benjamin's temper had been reigned in.

Vladimir chuckled darkly, "Such a show of force. You've given us no choice but to respond." He chuckled again but it was drowned out by the howling of the wolves as they prepared to fight.

It shocked Vladimir just enough to make him pause. In the split second he took before giving his signal I gave mine.

"ONE!" I bellowed.

We'd decided long ago that simple commands would work best with such a large group. Now our theory was going to be put to the test.

Before Vladimir had even finished his signal, which consisted of a long winded directive given to his guards and the henchmen to his left, Jonathon and Zuhar had already completed their task.

Jonathon had leeched enough water from the ground at Alexi's feet for Zuhar to freeze him where he stood. He muttered darkly and just as his thoughts turned to taunting the two men for their pitiful efforts that had left his gift intact, Furkan gave a mighty roar and conjured a fireball the size of a human head. He flung it across the scarred landscape between the two groups and I watched in horror as Alexi was smothered by its ghastly red radiance.

He screamed and writhed, stuck fast in his place by the ice surrounding his ankles.

As the first tendrils of purple smoke began to curl their way towards the heavens I made my next move.

There was no turning back now.

I had but five seconds at best so I turned and told Seth to run to Nessa and then I turned back to face Stefan. I very arrogantly threw him a small wry smile then shouted "TWO!" as loudly as I could.

The Romanians had not yet recovered from the loss of their favourite bully before the next wave of our attack hit them.

**Charlie Swan POV**

I felt the rumbling in the ground and knew that it had gone way past talking. They were going to have to fight it out.

Renee clutched the front of my shirt and yelped. We'd decided to be at the Rez while it all went down but I didn't know if that was such a good idea now. Looking at Harry and Sue and the look of pain on both their faces, I just wasn't sure.

I'd done everything Edward had asked me to do. I'd gotten that backpack and all its bits and pieces to the airport via courier, I'd looked over all the papers he'd given me. I'd read the letters they'd both written even though they weren't meant to be read until after the fight.

But now I was useless to them. Our whole family was tied up in some god awful war and there was nothing we could do about it.

I didn't ever want to see again anything like what I'd seen that day in the Cullen's driveway, but I did feel now about the same way I had back then. Useless and like I was missing some pieces of the puzzle.

Harry stiffened and stood up, sniffing the air like a dog and I got to my feet too. Renee lurched to hers too and we all stood in the little front yard looking for whatever it was that had Harry on edge.

"There." Harry pointed to a wisp of purplish smoke as it rose from the forest. "The war has begun, a vampire has perished." He said solemnly.

"Oh my god." Renee whimpered, falling to her knees on the grass.

I knelt beside her and held her in my arms like I'd seen Edward do for Bella.

I wasn't affectionate like they were, I didn't go in for a lot of hand holding and hugging, but I knew that right now it's what Renee needed. Hell, I needed it too.

"Shh. They're smart. They'll be okay. Just hold on, love." I told her.

**Jasper POV**

I was shocked that the first wave had worked so well but tried to keep a steady head as Edward shouted the command for the second group to begin their mission.

I wasted no time. I ran across the clearing, Lim at my flank, and rushed straight towards the six guards that stood on Vladimir's left. Maria lost her head instantly as I leapt at her from across the rift Benjamin had created. All I'd had to do was bring my arm down across her throat, the force of my leap did the rest.

Lim was holding a goon by the arms and I removed his head quite easily too. With no time for high fives we had another two upon us with seconds of the goons head falling to the ground.

Leah was there then, Jack too. He'd run from the middle ranks to be with her as she fought her share of the guards on this side. It was damn brave but also really foolish. I'd warned him to keep a cool head, to not rush to her aide when the fighting began. I knew if he did he'd be too busy protecting her to worry about himself and I was proven right when he leapt between her and Petrov as the guard raised his hand against her.

I had my hands full with Daniel and Marcus, two big guards from the rear rank and Lim was wrestling with another goon so I couldn't help him, or her.

I looked around to see who I could call on and saw Eric straightening from his crouch after ending another thug from their front row. I called out to him and nodded towards Leah. When he got there I turned back to my assailants.

"Howdy boys." I sneered and slipped further into my crouch.

I could feel the fear emanating from them and knew I'd be okay. Fear was my ultimate weapon, if I felt it in them I knew they were no match for me. I took the first apart at the seams as he rushed me, headlong. I tore his arms off and then tore into his neck with my teeth as he fell to the ground. He was done.

The second was bigger, stronger but it made no difference to me. I ran at him and waited for him to fake either left or right. It wasn't going to matter to me which way he went. I kept my line and went straight, he faked left and I continued on straight until I was at the foot of the rocky outcrop. I used it to deflect my own body weight and as I tumbled through the air backwards I reached below me and gripped his head tightly in my hands. It fell to the ground with me, released from his body with a sickening crunch. "Ya big faker." I sniggered and tossed his head aside.

I was looking for a collection crew – on our side of the fight, our half was called the right side, it would be Melinda and Ethan who would collect the body parts and make sure they burned. Vampires were notorious for putting themselves back together after a fight. I spotted them coming towards us, already collecting arms and legs, when I heard a howl then a stomach churning grating of bone.

At first I thought it was Leah who was hurt. She was on the ground on her side her huge rib cage rising and falling so fast it was a blur. But she got to her feet without a problem and I knew she was okay. Petrov had his arms around Jack's giant frame and he was squeezing. The crunching as his bones shattered made my teeth tingle and the hair at the back of my neck stand on edge.

"Eric!" I called. He was closest. He spun and swiped at Petrov, catching him at the side of the head and stunning him enough that he dropped Jack to the ground.

Leah rushed to him and dragged him away to the side. He'd heal, I didn't smell any blood.

I took my eyes off Jack just in time to see Petrov decapitate Eric with one swift blow to the back of his neck. The force was so great that Eric's head lolled forward for only a millisecond before his shocked eyes dulled and his head rolled off his shoulders.

Leah was screaming for someone to help Jack and Melinda was screaming at the loss of Eric.

Embry and Colin came to help Leah and told me to go, that she'd be okay with them.

Ethan came to the aide of his coven mate Melinda and calmed her down enough to go back to their task of collecting the pieces of the slain.

I ran back to Lim's side and went with him to regroup on our side of the chasm Benjamin had created.

We stood in front of Bella and Nessa in formation waiting for Edward's next command.

**Randall POV**

When my mate Edward yelled 'THREE!' I took off through the front row and out into no man's land.

I'd be fucked if I'd be taken down by these cowardly bastards and as I crossed the line that Benjamin had made I felt my strength rise in my gut. Garrett was on my right and Jonathon was on my left. We had our orders and I was determined to do all I could to make sure these fuckers were stopped.

I saw Nicolau – useless to his squad now because Bella had rendered his gift defunct – sneaking off towards the only exit in the clearing. I was about to follow him when I heard Jonathon call that he'd take him.

Garrett headed off a little further right and aimed at his target, Antonio. That left me with that big prick Damen. Didn't bother me how big he was. There was a great Aussie saying 'the bigger they are the harder they fall' and I knew it to be true.

He was darting left and right trying to psych me out but I wasn't having it. I crooked my finger at him and smiled. It infuriated him and he rushed me. Loser.

I slid to the ground as he crashed above my head. I went through his legs and out the other side. He had no time to turn around before I was back on my feet behind him. I only had time to hiss a lazy 'fucker' into his ear before I reefed his noggin clean off. Horrible fucking sound but strangely satisfying.

I figured I'd get my money's worth out of the kill and held onto Damen's hair and used his head to fend off some other bastard who was trying to pick me off from behind. I swung the head – now turned to stone – up over my own head and heard that familiar crunch as stone hit stone. I expected to see him still standing, just stunned, when I turned. But he was done. His head was about six feet away and his body was still twitching. I dropped Damen's head beside the other one and went to find my sire.

I needn't have been worried, Jonathon was a skilled fighter. By the time I got to him he had Nicolau's arms and legs removed and was toying with him like a fly with its wings torn off.

"How do you like that, fucker?" He was screaming into the agonised vampires face. "Not so fucking gifted now are we?" He yelled.

"Jono!" I called. My sire turned and eyed me, nodded in recognition and put the flailing guard out of his misery.

War might be hell but there had to be some sort of honour among the players, so I reckoned anyway. Jonathon ran to me and clapped me on the shoulder. "Garrett?" He asked.

"Dunno." I told him as we ran back towards the centre of the clearing to find out.

We'd played our part perfectly and with the whole left side of the guard either dead or incapacitated it was starting to look a bit like a one sided show. Suited us fine.

We found Garrett helping Irina and Carmen – our side of the fights clean up and containment crew – shoving bodies onto the pyre.

Thick plumes of purple smoke rose from the pile.

Garrett shook both mine and Jono's hand and then we ran back to guard Bella and her little one.

Bella smiled at me when I got there and my heart soared. Fuck she was lovely. All dark curly hair and plump pink lips. I smiled back and Jasper growled at me. I held up my hands in surrender and laughed.

I took my place in the wall around them and waited for Edward to call out his next instructions.

It was a pretty good day at the office so far.

**Emmett POV**

I heard 'FOUR!' shouted and looked left to make sure that my team was moving. They were.

Charles and Quil had already paired up and were advancing steadily to where Vasile was cowering with Florin and Stefan.

Pin and I had been given Florin so the more preoccupied with Stefan he was the easier it was going to be for us.

We knew that Edward wanted Stefan for himself so as we approached I checked to make sure my brother was ready. There was no point in us taking on Stefan's henchmen if Stefan could defend them. He needed to be busy himself.

Edward raised his fist to me as we crossed over the gigantic crack in the ground in the middle of the clearing. It had been a hell of a trick that.

The five of us advanced in a line, Stefan knew he was in trouble when Edward started chuckling maniacally. I don't know what Edward had read from his thoughts but I would bet serious money that the little shit was crapping his dacks as Edward came closer and closer.

Florin, for his part, wasn't quite so intimidated. He was sticking to Stefan, like he should, so we had to get him away so Edward could take his shot. It was pretty easy in the end.

Pin went right, I went left and we gave him no choice but to defend himself rather than Stefan when Edward made his lunge at the same time we did.

He was quick though and leapt backwards and away from us real fast. No matter, we came at him again and again until he had nowhere else to go but forward. If he took off into the trees he was history and he knew it. He had no knowledge of the area and we lived here, trained here. Besides, they didn't know who was out there. We could have vamps stationed all along the trees ready to take out the turn coats. We didn't, but they didn't know that.

While Florin was righting himself from his latest stumble I took a second to look to my left to see how Charles was doing. Vasile was basically just a B grade henchman and it looked as though he and the giant wolf had it under control.

That's when I lost control of my own situation.

Fucking Florin took his chance when my head was turned to rush me. He ran to where his comrade Vasile was and they faced Charles and Quil together leaving Pin and I where we stood.

"Shit." I muttered and took off to help.

Furkan – there was no way I was calling him Alex, Furkan was the greatest name I'd ever heard – was running towards us with a ball of fire clutched in his hands.

That might come in handy I thought as I reached the fight. Another goon from the back row of their guard came at us so me and Pin took him out while Charles and Quil held off the two more important vamps. Pin ran off with the body parts from our kill and I joined the wolf and our truth detector in battle.

Quil was snapping at Vasile, tearing at his cloak as the vampire jumped and writhed to escape the huge teeth. Charles was lunging and sparring with Florin and I took a flank position to cut him off should he run. He tried to and I came around and headed him off, forcing him back towards Charles.

Furkan was stood, fireball in hand, ready to aim when I gave the order. Charles and Quil split apart to make way for him. He threw and it hit the ground and bounced up into both shoulders of the vampires. Florin was on fire and screaming in terror but Vasile had managed to tamp out the flames that threatened to rush up his arm and kill him.

Unfortunately Furkan took what he thought was a good opportunity and threw another fireball between Charles and Quil just as Makenna came running to help her mate.

The fireball caught her sleeve as she shoved Furkan aside to get at Charles. She had the good sense to get to the ground and roll so the flames went out quickly, but the damage was done. She'd been burnt all down her arm and was screaming in agony. Fire and vamps don't mix.

I told Charles to stay with her and took on Florin myself, leaving Quil with Vasile. There wasn't too much for me to do other to make sure Florin didn't get to the ground to put out the flames that were engulfing him just like they'd engulfed Alexi earlier.

I was gloating over the pile of ashes he'd become when I felt a searing pain in my left arm. Fucking Vasile had grabbed me and taken off my fucking hand! Clean off!

Charles reached out and pocketed my frantically scrambling appendage and I turned on Vasile with fire in my eyes and a newly restored sense of hostility.

"You fucking bastard." I roared.

I nodded to Quil and he growled loudly. We lunged at the same time. Quil tore into him from the left, me from the right.

By the time Irina and Carmen arrived to pick up the pieces it was dismembered so completely it was hard to tell if it was one vampire or three. But I knew it was one, Vasile, the fucker who'd removed my hand.

I helped Charles to his feet, his anguish and grief over Makenna's injuries took over his whole body, leaving him unable to function properly. Without a hand it wasn't easy to get them both to the back of the formation and into a safe place while the fighting continued around us.

The pain from my stump shot hot bursts of fire up my arm as I ran back to slip into my place in the formation once again.

I searched for my Rosie but knew she'd still be in her original position. She'd wait there until Edward had called six.

**Sam Uley POV**

Five was my number and I waited as patiently as I could for it to come.

When it did I waited half a second for my group to come to my side. Sima, Lu Hu and I had to take out Jane and Alec as fast as we could. Everything was happening very fast, there were wolves and vampires running everywhere and the battlefield was a loud mess by the time Edward called our number. It had only been two minutes since the fighting began until he did, but it seemed so much longer when I was waiting to hear it.

The three of us advanced on Jane knowing we were protected mentally by Bella's intact shield. As long as she held it firm we'd be okay on that front. Physically however we also knew her brother would fight to the death for her and that she probably wouldn't lift a finger, preferring to hide behind him until the last moment.

We hadn't tested it but we were hoping that if Jane's ability was thwarted by Bella's shield then so would Alec's. But there was no way to know. I figured he would've tried to help his sister when Zafrina had projected onto her and since he hadn't managed to stop that it was a safe bet that Bella's shield would stave him off too.

Sima and Lu Hu were particularly eager to play their part in this fight. Jane had tortured their wolf friends the last time they'd met and Alec had helped her do it by rendering all the vampires senses nil so they'd had to watch, unable to help, as their friends were slaughtered.

That wasn't going to be the case today.

I'd already watched on in mortification as the vampire Eric had fallen at the hand of Petrov and didn't want to see that happen again.

As we'd practised I let my two teammates advance on Alec as I snuck around to the right, skimming the edge of the rocks and coming around as far as I could without Jane realizing. I got pretty close too. About five feet away before she smelled me and turned on me.

She was at odds though. Did she help her brother or did she defend herself from me. She was calling Alec's name over and over as Sima and Lu Hu advanced on him. He was walking backwards, away from them but closer to me. Jane was telling him not to but he wasn't listening, instead he was faking left and right to throw the others off. They began to take turns wrestling with him while Jane stood at the side and screamed encouragement at her flailing brother. It was no use though. Two against one was never good odds and soon Sima and Lu Hu were crowing over the severed head of Alec while Jane spat venom at me.

I steadied, ready to leap at her while she was distracted with her grief for her brother when I saw her lunge at me. I opened my jaw ready to take a good pound of flesh with me as she moved past me when I was shoved aside by Sima.

I heard the screech before I saw what had happened. Sima lay on the ground twitching. Lu Hu rushed to her side and I watched, horrified, as he tried to push her head back onto her body. It was no use. She was gone.

I turned to prepare for Janes next attack but it never came. She was gone.

I called for Melinda and Ethan to take both Sima's body and Lu Hu to the back of the formation and then I began to hunt around the edges of the fight for Jane. If she was still here I'd find her.

**Rosalie POV**

Come on Eddie, come on Eddie, just call six, come on. I chanted as I waited for my turn to fight. All around me vampires were running and yelling and I wanted in on the action. I'd been afraid before, but not now. Not now that I could see just how well everyone else was doing.

There were two enormous bonfires, one at either end of the clearing, and both were piled high with Romanian scum.

Yeah! I shouted when I heard Edward call my number.

Charlotte yanked on my arm as she ran by me, already a full stride ahead of both Busra and I as we ran through what was left of the ranks to get to the front.

Ariana was still reeling from what Zafrina had done to her so we had to strike while the iron was hot.

She hadn't moved from between Vladimir and Constantin so we had to wait until Edward called seven before we could begin trying to lure her away from there.

He called it and I heard and felt Paul thundering across the ground to get at Gabriella and Constantin. That was our second cue. When Paul, Peter and Alistair flew past us we regrouped and targeted Ariana.

Bella's shield was still working because I wasn't numb, so Ariana had to fight like us mere vampires. With her combat skills which were probably nil. I bet she'd never bothered to learn to fight with her fists and feet because her gift had always rendered her prey numb anyway. It was a bad oversight on her behalf and I think she realised it when we kept advancing on her.

I heard the first blow being delivered to my right and looked over to see Gabriella sprawled on the ground, still intact but pretty pissed at being swept off her feet by Paul.

Edward called eight and I wondered what the hell that was again. It was nothing to do with me but I hoped like hell that it was to do with Vladimir because he was looking pretty menacing as we advanced on his enforcer.

Edward was grappling with Stefan to our left but I had no time to help him because Ariana broke ranks from beside her master as Carlisle and Eleazar charged him headlong.

That left us free to pounce on Ariana.

Busra had her around the waist and was trying to drive her to the ground so one of us could neck her but she was too strong for just him. She bucked and kicked and fought like a hellcat. She wasn't good at it but she was pretty tenacious. She was out from under him in no time and back on her feet.

Both Vladimir and Stefan were calling for her to help them but she had too much on her plate to be of any use to them. She hissed and spat as I sparred with her. I landed a few heavy blows but she came up swinging each time.

Charlotte made to kick Ariana high, at her throat I thought, but Ariana lifted her arm and blocked the move. Charlotte screamed in agony as her foot came off. She limped away and that left Busra and I left to finish it.

Ariana was grinning as though she'd really enjoyed hurting Charlotte and I saw red. I squared my shoulders and rushed her, pinning her to the ground underneath me. I had my teeth bared and was preparing to tear out her throat when she reached out a hand and tore Busra's leg clean off as he ran to assist me. It bounced beside me and I lost concentration.

She flung me off and ran across the midway line that Benjamin had created and headed straight for the formation protecting Bella and Nessa.

I called to make sure they knew she was coming and a dozen voices called back saying they were on it so I turned my attention to my group who now numbered two injured.

Liam and Siobhan rushed forward to help Charlotte and I carried Busra and his leg to the rear of the formation for help.

**Edward POV**

All around me my family and friends were taking down our enemies.

The guard had fallen, there was only one or two left and those looked terrified. Vasile and Florin were gone and Constantin and Gabriella weren't far behind them. The major Romanian players had been reduced to ashes leaving just a select few for us to deal with.

Stefan circled me in a desperate bid to find someone to help him. Each time we made the circle complete his thoughts turned to who was left on his side that would jump in to take over so he could flee. I had no intention of letting that happen and was savouring the thought that it truly would be me who ended his miserable existence. Perhaps Nessa's image had been a vision after all.

I was in no hurry to be done with him so I let him circle a bit longer. He wasn't going anywhere and there was no one left to help him. The best part of that was he knew it.

* * *

**A/N: So, war it is. A complicated one at that. Thank you for reading. I do so hope you've found this chapter interesting and that you were able to visualize what I have tried to put into words. As I have said previously, my war map is extensive and very, very messy Lol. **

**Please review, it's all I ask. **


	56. Chapter 56

**A/N: As the fight progresses I'll move through other points of view, to give you a look into individual struggles. Again, I beg your indulgence, some insights were far more interesting than others. I'm sorry if a character you really wanted to hear from is left out, but giving voice to eighty odd vampires was impossible. **

Chapter 56 - Everyone's a pacifist between wars. It's like being a vegetarian between meals. Colman McCarthy

56.

**Alice POV**

Edward had just called nine when I got to the clearing. He'd asked me to stay away but I couldn't. The noise was deafening even from two miles away and I had no way to know if it was my family whose ashes were keeping the purple fires alight.

I'd 'seen' nothing of the fight in a vision. The wolves were just too prevalent. I could hear everything though. Two miles wasn't quite far enough for me to be spared that. The keening as victim after victim fell crucified me. Not knowing who it was who had succumbed had strengthened my resolve to defy Edward's wishes and stay away.

I was relieved to see that so many were still standing. I didn't doubt there would be casualties but from what I could see at short notice it looked pretty good for our side.

Edward and Stefan were facing off, big surprise there. Carlisle and Eleazar had Vladimir almost cornered while Paul and Peter toyed with Gabriella. Alistair was holding his own against Constantin.

My Jasper had safely finished his mission and I found him in the ring around Bella.

Emmett was there but he was missing a hand. Shit. Rosie was sitting on the grass behind the fray with Charlotte in her arms. She was sobbing but I couldn't see why. She was alive, for now that would have to be enough for me.

To my left Maria and Rennie were holding one of the guards, Marco I thought his name was, down on the ground. He was thrashing like a devil but I knew they'd end him soon enough. I was about to turn my attention back to the fight between the boys and Gabriella when Stefan's favourite guard Adrian came tearing past the struggle unfolding on the ground.

Before I had time to scream an alarm to Maria, Adrian had run past and with a simple twist of his wrist he severed her head. She fell backwards onto the grass and Rennie screamed in terror. He was going to suffer the same fate if he let Marco up so I ran to where he held the struggling bastard. While Rennie held him as still as he could I slid my hands under his head and pulled. I tossed it aside and told Rennie to run with Maria's body to the back of the formation, like Edward had told us should anything happen to one of our side.

Demetri was at my side half a second later. "He's gone around the back, come." He shouted and I took off after him. Adrian had a head start but we'd find him, there was nowhere for him to go after all.

He was almost to the back of the formation when Zafrina spotted him. She whirled and sliced his head clean off with her outstretched arm before he got within ten feet of Bella.

It was over so fast half the gathered group hadn't even realised that there was a bad guy on our side of the dividing line.

Marcus and Renata dragged his body and head back around the edge of the group and out into the clearing before throwing it onto the bonfire there.

I pushed my way through the throng and found Bella. She was still concentrating hard on keeping her shield steady so I tried to be as unobtrusive as I could. She was well protected so I wasn't scared for her. She was also well insulated so I hoped that both she and Nessa had been spared the bulk of the carnage so far. She grimaced when she spotted me. She told me how pissed she was to see me and told me I should've run when I'd had the chance.

"That's bullshit and you know it sister. We're Cullen's, we stand and fight." She smiled then and I knew we were all good.

I gave Esme a quick kiss and dropped one on Nessa's head before I went and stood beside my husband.

"Hey." I said as I slid my hand into his.

His smile was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. "Love you darlin." He drawled before kissing me hard on the mouth.

I slid into Eleazar's vacant spot and readied for guard duty. Nothing and nobody was getting through me.

**Esme POV**

After Alice returned to us I slid away from the circle at the first opportunity. Carlisle was fighting with Vladimir and I couldn't bear him out there on his own.

I knew Eleazar was with him but I just didn't trust him enough, especially not enough to entrust him with my husband's life.

I went right as I left the circle knowing that I'd be spotted more easily if I went left because there was a greater concentration of vampires still on that side. Edward was yet to call the final two numbers that would take those vampires out into the clearing.

I passed by the defenders and made sure that both Angelica and Nathaniel were still there and were safe. There was a large crowd near them and I could see a few prone bodies and several injuries. I shuddered when I saw Jack lying on his side panting. He was in his human form and obviously in agony.

I hesitated, I should stay and help them not run into the fray.

That second of indecision cost me and I would forever feel guilty for the cost to our English friends.

I'd been so busy looking over the injured that I'd failed to hear or feel Ariana's approach. She pulled me by the hair backwards and I stumbled against her.

She whirled me around so that I was facing her. "The coven leaders bitch, perfect." She snarled and prepared to strike me.

I lashed out and hit her with so much force she stumbled back and fell to the ground. She was back on her feet in a millisecond though. I slipped into my crouch and was preparing to lunge again when Charles, the lovely mild mannered man from the English coven, pushed me aside and lunged in my stead.

He had no fighting skills and that was clearly evident by how easy it was for Ariana to block his advance and slip her arm under his shoulders and turn him around to face me. With an evil grin she slid her free hand under his chin and detached his head right there in front of his horrified clan.

Samuel and Svetlana had heard the wailing from Olivia and Imogen and had rushed to assist but it was too late. Charles was flung to the ground and Ariana hissed as she once again slipped into her crouch to take on the next opponent.

I told both Samuel and Svetlana to back off and took her on myself.

We circled for a few moments but I was not willing to give up any ground so it was up to her to come and get me if she wanted me. She did want me and she advanced blindingly fast. I dodged left, just like Jasper had taught me, and as she flew by me I grabbed for her hair. I gave a short, sharp twist and her head came off cleanly.

I threw it to the ground and screamed into the sky. It was unlike me to vent this way but it felt so good to release some of my long pent up rage that I didn't fight the urge.

Samuel and Svetlana returned to their row when Melinda and Ethan came to take Ariana's body to the bonfire for burning and I returned to Bella's side.

Nobody said a thing.

Bella reached for my hand as though nothing had changed. I gladly slid mine into hers and went back to craning my neck over our protectors heads so I could get a glimpse of my husband and son.

**Peter POV**

Gabriella was skilled but not strong, Constantin was strong and very skilled. There were three of us and two of them but still we circled, unable to make headway.

"Go round Paul." I called. The huge wolf made a low rumbling growl in reply and stalked around the outside of our group, coming around from behind.

I waited, knowing that Aro and Tanya would join us if they'd seen and understood the signal we'd sent – Paul going around behind. They didn't let us down. They came running across that huge gash in the ground and arrived crouched and ready to fight.

I nodded to Aro and he and Tanya peeled off slightly right, taking Gabriella's attention with them. Perfect.

Ariana had already run off and Vladimir was otherwise engaged with Carlisle and Eleazar so thing stood perfectly poised for this part of the plan.

We'd talked about this rear assault in practises, I just had to hope that it worked and that Paul had the balls to carry it off. It was going to be up to him to finish the job when the time came.

Constantin was frothing at the mouth more than the wolf behind him when he realised he'd been herded. "Scum." He spat as he lunged at Alistair. It was a pathetic attempt borne from fear and had absolutely no effect on us whatsoever.

"Try again." I laughed.

He whipped his head around and flashed angry eyes at me just as he made to leap forward. In his anger he'd forgotten about Paul and I smiled half with the knowledge that we had the vampire on the back foot now and half because I knew that Paul was well trained and had no qualms about what he had to do.

As Constantin lunged Paul opened his huge jaws and turned his head ninety degrees. He put one huge paw two feet in front of himself and bit down on Constantin's ribcage. The crunch was horrendous, the piece he took huge. He spat it out onto the ground and it hit with a dull thud as it turned to stone.

Constantin roared in pain but was still on his feet. He completely forgot about Alistair and me and spun on his heel to face his attacking wolf foe. As he swung around he splayed his fingers and I watched on in horror as a spray of blood came from Paul's muzzle. Constantin had opened a gash along the wolf's cheek. Paul didn't make a sound.

Instead he advanced again. He opened his mouth and snarled. His huge tongue lolling off to one side as his teeth snapped violently. Constantin began to retreat but he had nowhere to go other than closer to Alistair and I. I didn't want to deny Paul his kill but if he didn't lunge soon I'd have to end Constantin myself.

I needn't have worried. Paul snarled once more and leapt. He was so big that his jump meant he could come down over the top of Constantin. His mouth so wide that he bit down on the crown of Constantin's head and bit it clean off.

He spat it out as fast as he could and stood on his hind legs and howled in triumph.

I was already moving on to the next target, moving to my right to assist the circling Aro and Tanya in their fight with Gabriella. I could hear Alistair trying to get Paul to come away, to go to the back of the formation and let Mary heal his wound so I knew he was in good hands.

Paul began to move with Alistair but they made a bad choice and chose to move around behind Tanya and Aro's fight. Probably to avoid Carlisle and Eleazar where they were wrestling with Vladimir, but this choice was going to have dire consequences.

Gabriella was cornered and lashed out as Paul trotted behind her. She reached for whatever she could catch and caught him on the hind leg as he ran past. She squeezed and I heard the bones in his leg and rump crack. He howled in pain and slumped to the ground. I hoped he could fight the urge to phase back to human because if he did the blood on his nose would incite a riot we would be unable to control it. For now it was feint because it was concealed amongst his fur.

Alistair was shouting that he'd take him away and I saw Melinda and Ethan running towards where he lay and knew they'd get him away in time.

Gabriella was poised for another try but Aro grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him, instead of Paul. The motion was so violent her arm came off in his hand.

He used it as a weapon and swung it at her head, knocking her to the ground. Tanya was on her chest then, pinning her to the ground. Gabriella was hissing and spitting in Romanian but Tanya was too far gone to care. She put a hand on either side of the woman's ears and yanked, hard.

She tossed the severed head over her shoulder and her mate caught it. "You got the whole set there baby!" She crowed in victory and he began to laugh.

"Come on, let's see to the wolf." He threw the pieces onto the pyre on his way past and they ran back to the formation to check on Paul.

I looked around to see where my beloved was. I couldn't see her on the battlefield and remembered that her number had been called well before mine. Her fight would be long over now. So as I ran back across the clearing to our side I began to scan the wall of vampires protecting Bella and the little one. She wasn't in it. My panic began to rise.

I looked from left to right across the clearing searching for her flame red hair. Nothing. I came to where Jasper stood with Alice' hand in his, his back to the circle, guarding his sister like he should.

"Where is she?" I asked Alice who was already moving towards me, a grave look on her face.

"With Rosie." She said and my heart lurched.

I looked to the left at the prearranged area where we'd take our dead and wounded. There she was, lying in Rosie's lap sobbing.

I fell on her and held her face in my palms. I looked over her body and saw that it was whole. "What is it?" I asked in a choked voice.

"Her foot came off." Rosie told me as she slid out from under my wife.

I took her body into my own hands then. I cradled her in my arms and held her in my lap while she cried. "Shh darlin, it's alright now. It'll heel darlin, you'll be good as new." I kissed her hair and held her while she cried.

**Embry POV**

I knew that when Sam moved I moved too. He ran to the centre of the field, I ran to the right. Colin was right beside me and we only had to slow for one pace before Tia was right there too.

Our target was Felix. We'd been told how mean he was, how he had no compassion at all and that it would be his job to smash through our defences to get at Bella.

Jasper and Edward had been right too. The minute the fighting broke out he was running right towards our lines.

I didn't have time to be scared, I just ran. I saw Colin break off, like he was supposed to, and I closed the gap between myself and Tia in the next stride.

She looked pretty small but she could sure pack a punch. She coat-hangered that big bastard right at his throat and brought him crashing to the ground as we ran right past.

He'd been looking right past us. He probably never thought that we were targeting him. He just had his sights set on the centre of our formation where Bella and Nessa were.

Now he was flat on his back on the ground and he wasn't happy.

He roared when he got back onto his feet but he'd already made his fatal mistake long before then. Colin came flying off the top of the rocks and tore that fuckers head clean off his shoulders in one easy bite. The body fell left and Colin spat out the head just in time for Melinda to run by and scoop it up.

Job done we headed back to the back of the formation. I didn't even raise a sweat.

**Renesmee POV**

Mommy was trying to be brave. Daddy said I needed to look after her so I stood right in front of her so the bad men couldn't get her. She was wobbly for a long time. Her fingers in my hair felt like little wriggly worms. I knew she needed to play with my hair, it always made her felt better, so I stood very still while she did.

My Nana-Me was wobbly too, and Aunty Rose, but not me.

I listened when daddy told me that we'd be alright. My daddy was the smartest man – besides my Pa - that I knew. He was brave and strong and he said that we were going to be alright so I believed him. At first I was cross that mommy didn't, but Sethy told me that mommy worried about me more than anyone because I'd been inside her tummy and that meant that I was a little part of her. So if anything happened to me it would be happening to mommy too. So I forgave her for being afraid.

It was hard to be brave when it was just me and Sethy though. I cried a lot when it was just us but he said that was a good thing. That I should keep all my tears just for him, that his thick fur would soak them all up and he could carry them for me because he was so big and strong. He cried sometimes too, and that made me sad, but he was so big now, and so strong, so I knew that he could soak up his tears and carry them too.

There was lots of yelling in the field today. I knew that the Romninians wanted to hurt me and Sethy and that they were going to try and do that to us today.

I couldn't see too far because there were lots of people blocking the way, but I could see people running around. My daddy was calling out numbers and every time he did more people ran. Sethy was beside me but he didn't say much. I wanted to ask him what the numbers meant but he was busy watching so I left him alone. He was getting smarter all the time. He listened to my daddy when he spoke and he was taking classes with me so I knew that if Seth was being quiet it meant something. So I was quiet too.

I felt my Nana-Me leave the circle and wondered where she was going. I hoped my Pa was alright because I knew that if he wasn't my Nana-Me was going to be very upset. She didn't like to be very far away from Pa and I knew that she didn't like it when he went to the hostible without her. I got to go sometimes, which was fun, but mostly I asked my daddy to take me so I could tell Nana-Me that Pa was okay when I got home. She liked that.

That's why I was worried when she left the circle. I didn't want the Romninians to hurt anyone, but especially my Nana-Me. Not when she could've stayed in the circle and been safe with us.

She came back only a few minutes later but she was extra wobbly when she did. She was holding my mommy's hand again and I could hear her breathing really hard. It was always a bit strange when my family breathed because I knew they didn't need to. I needed to. Daddy caught me trying to be like him once and I got into trouble for trying to hold my breath. I don't like it when daddy is cross with me so I never did it again.

Sometimes my daddy would breathe really hard when my mommy was near him. I asked him once if she made him feel sick. He laughed and said no but didn't tell me why he did it. Sethy said it was because of the kissing. The kissing looked yuck so I didn't ask again. I patted my daddy on the back once when he was breathing funny at the beach. My mommy had lost her top in the water so I just figured daddy was worried that she wouldn't be able to find it again.

So I was a bit worried when Nana-Me came back and was breathing funny. She kissed me on the top of my head and held onto my shoulder. After a little while her breathing stopped so I knew she was alright. Pa said that was the funniest bit, that when humans stopped breathing it meant they weren't alright. I was always careful to listen to Sethy's breathing after he told me that. Sethy breathed really deep and lots. That was good.

Mommy took her wiggly fingers out of my hair after a little while so I could look out between Uncle Jasper and Uncle Emmy better. I saw my daddy dancing with the man who was wearing the big long black cloak. He was mean to me and didn't use his manners at all!

I was happy that I'd made him cross when I'd showed him the 'movie' Zaffy helped me make in my brain. I thought daddy might have been cross with me for doing it, but Zaffy said I should do it anyway. She promised she'd tell daddy it had been her idea, not mine, and that if I got into trouble she'd get into trouble with me. She said that's what friends did, they got into trouble together.

They weren't very good dancers, not as good as when daddy and I danced. Aunty Rosie taught me how to do it but I was still too short to do it properly. Mostly daddy put me on his hip and we danced that way, but I knew I was growing fast so it wouldn't be long and I'd be able to dance with him the way mommy did.

The man in the cloak was yelling at my daddy now. I didn't like that. It made me cross. My daddy was a good boy, Nana-Me always said so, so I didn't know why this mean man was yelling.

"You leave my daddy alone!" I shouted but they didn't hear me.

Uncle Emmy laughed at me then, so I told him he should be yelling at the mean man too. So he did. Uncle Emmy was the best!

I couldn't see Pa anywhere but if my daddy was dancing he probably was too. They did a lot of things together. Daddy told me that my Pa was his daddy and that just like me, he learned from his daddy all the time too. I liked that. Daddy said that we all had to keep learning, that we should never stop trying to learn new things. I worked very hard at my lessons because I wanted to go to daddy's school one day.

Zaffy was giggling behind us and I wanted to see what was funny so I moved a little bit forward and stood between Holly and Kate. There was a man lying on the ground but his face was still up high, in Randall's hands. What did that mean? How can a man have no head? And why was Randall holding that man's head? It looked very strange to me. Then I saw a man running to Randall, he looked really cross and he was growling like my daddy did when Randall was having a joke with mommy. Randall used the other man's head to push this new man over!

Holly gasped and moved closer to Kate then and I couldn't see anymore.

There were some really odd things happening in the field today.

**Zafrina POV**

They were savages, animals. They fought like the devil and they had no respect for life of any kind. They would die in disgrace this day.

I took great pride in distracting Jane and then Ariana as they both did their best to get at my friend Isabella and her child. Bella had worked hard to master her shield and it had saved many a life today already.

My little friend Nessa too had played her part flawlessly. It hadn't taken much to teach her to manipulate her gift. She was a quick learner and worked hard, like her mother. I was very proud when she showed that beast Stefan his fate.

Edward was doing well against him although no blows had yet been struck. The fight was young, however.

It was difficult to cover all the places I needed to be. There were so many who could use a distraction while they fought. I was about to project onto Petrov but he soon fell. The same happened when I was preparing to project onto Nicolau, he too fell before I could.

I kept a watchful eye on the surroundings, as master Edward had asked of me. None would get through me to get to his precious.

I saw Susan, the tall woman from the Pacific working with Mehmet, the very alluring Turkish man, to corner and eradicate that fiend Cauis. A young wolf, one of the smaller ones, was hovering at the edge of the fight looking for an opening to engage. He slipped around behind them and came at the guardsman from the rear. It was a fatal mistake.

I projected an image of untold suffering into the monsters mind but it was too late. He threw himself backwards and crushed the young wolf against the rocks. Susan soon tore him to pieces but the wolf was already lost.

"Mary!" I shouted to the healer. I pointed to the area but knew, already, that her efforts would be for nothing.

The young wolf had breathed his last before the vampires made it to his side.

The one I knew to be called Jared was running to his pack mate calling 'Brady, Brady' so I knew that it was Brady that had just been lost.

I slipped away from the back of the circle and made my way to them. The body of Cauis was already being dragged to the fire so I helped Susan take the body of Brady to the back of the formation to lie with the other fallen and injured.

I would live to regret the assistance I gave.

Jane came running from the trees at the back of the clearing. She was so angry she announced her presence with a blood curdling scream. She, too, would regret letting her anger take over her thinking.

**Seth POV**

I moved when Edward told me to move. I'd seen Alexi burst into flames so I knew it was going to mean a fight now.

All around us there was screaming and yelling as the Romanian guard was torn apart. We were winning but it looked awful.

I had Nessa behind me and I wanted so much to just throw her up onto my shoulders and run away with her. Nobody would notice now I thought, not now that they were all busy fighting. I could just slip away. We wouldn't go far, just enough to get her the hell away from the fighting. God knows what she was about to see and how it would affect her when she did.

I was real quiet. I knew she had questions but I didn't want to lie to her, so I kept my eyes on the fight and my mouth shut.

There were heaps of us around her and I was pretty sure that nobody could get to her, they wouldn't get through me that was for sure.

I could only watch as Brady was taken from us. I heard his thoughts as he was crushed against the rocks but I couldn't move. I was bound to stay right where I was, but I wanted to go to him, to not let him die alone on the ground the way he was. I wanted a wolf to be with him when his spirit ascended to the heavens.

It took all my strength and resolve to stand my ground as my brother's life was taken. I sighed with a little relief when Jared made it to him. He was already gone, but Jared would take good care of his mortal body until the elders could make their rituals.

I turned my attention back to the front and tried to concentrate on the fight once again. It would do no good to begin mourning before the fight was over.

The screaming behind me startled me and I used my muzzle to push Nessa behind me, turning my back to the fight ahead as I spun around and saw Jane coming through the trees at the back of the clearing.

Nobody had thought to plan for that. That someone might come around behind us using the trees for cover. At least I didn't think they did.

Bella didn't even blink. She screamed for me to run with Nessa. Jasper picked her up and put her high up on my shoulders. He slapped my back when she was ready and I tore off through the formation as fast as I could.

She was completely quiet though, she didn't say a word the whole way. That worried me. Nessa was rarely this quiet.

We'd planned for this too. If the opportunity presented itself I was to run with her to the Rez. So that's what I did. Normally it was ten minutes home from the clearing but today I did it in eight.

I didn't stop for breath until we had crossed the boundary line, then I drew in massive gulps of air. I was still running flat out when I came across my parents and Charlie and Renee standing in the middle of the street.

"Thank god." Renee was bawling as she ran towards me. She threw herself at Nessa and took her off my back. "Thank you, thank you." She called as she ran back to Charlie with her.

I shook myself and tried to calm down so I could phase back but it was no use. I was too geared up. I didn't know if I wanted to stay here, knowing Nessa was safe now, or go back and help at the fight some more. I knew that Edward would want me to stay here and that leaving her with humans was no better than her being in the clearing, but I was torn.

It was Charlie who made the choice for me. He came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder. "Please stay, we can't protect her like you can, son." He said real calm.

I nodded my head so he'd know I understood. He let me go and went back to where Renee had Nessa in her lap on the front stairs of my house. Nessa was already showing them her memories of the fight. Renee was grimacing here and there so I knew Nessa wasn't censoring it. Nobody had thought to tell her that. Hell, nobody thought we'd need to.

She still hadn't spoken a word.

I trotted into the yard a little further and sat on my back legs. I surveyed the yard and the street and saw and heard no one that shouldn't be there. I wanted to just rest a little while, put my head on my paws and just rest, but I knew better than to let my guard drop now. Edward taught me good, and he trusted me with his daughter, I wasn't going to rest until he came to collect her himself.

My dad patted me on the back and told me how proud he was of me and then he went back to stand with Charlie and Renee. My mother went inside and I could smell the meat on the grill as its smell came out the front door.

Every twig that dropped scared the shit out of me. Every crunch on the gravel made the hair on my neck stand on end. Every howl I heard from the direction of the forest made my gut clench. I could still hear the voices of the other wolves but they were mostly busy with their own situations, nobody was paying any attention to what was happening for me or at the Rez. I didn't expect them to either; they needed to concentrate on themselves. I didn't want to lose anyone else like we lost Brady.

Scents were swirling on the wind and it was hard to keep them all straight in my head. My parents were easy, I knew those without trying. Charlie and Renee were okay too, but not as simple as my parents scents were. Billy black was at his house because I could smell him near.

There were kids playing by the front gate, in a little mud pile there. They were all from the Rez though, no scent that wasn't native.

Another creak in the trees opposite my house and I lifted my head. I saw nothing and smelled nothing that shouldn't be there and figured it was just animals wandering about. There were probably going to be lots in the trees near us because the fight would drive them clear of the field.

Another twig snapped and I raised my eyes to the direction it came from. My dad was taking notice now. Every time I whipped my head in one direction he did too. What I was listening for he had no idea but he knew I was listening for something.

The wind changed and I smelled it. Vampire. Not one I knew. This was not good.

'_Sam I've got trouble at the Rez. Vampire on his own. Nessa is with Charlie and my parents. Send back up.' _I begged silently hoping someone would get here in time.

I spun around and snarled at my father, hoping he'd realise something wasn't right. He was already moving. He had Charlie and Renee to their feet in a heartbeat. He led them, Nessa in Renee's arms, into the house. I heard the bolt snap on the front door and turned to face the trees.

He came out of them limping. He had a foot missing and it looked like a good chunk at the side of his head was missing too. He wasn't happy.

He was sniffing the air and I figured he was a goon from the guard and he had either followed me or he was a tracker. Either way I was in deep, deep trouble.

I got no reply from anyone in my pack and knew that they had their hands full.

He spotted me and grinned. I snarled and he laughed.

"You are no match for the great Santiago, boy." He hissed as he came across the yard towards me.

'_Seth, hold him off. We're sending vamps.' _It was Leah's voice and I sighed in relief. I just had to hold on long enough for them to get here.

That's where my luck ran out.

He charged at me and I was forced to flee backwards. If I didn't do something I'd be pinned between the house and him and I'd end up like Brady. I didn't care if I died as long as Nessa got away. That wasn't going to happen if I went down too soon. I needed the others to at least have a chance to take this prick out so I had to hold him off.

I leapt to the side and let him crash into the side of the house. Renee started screaming. Figured.

The vamp shook his head but he wasn't even stunned. He spun around but now I was on open ground on the road and he had the house at his back. I bared my teeth and jumped as high as I could towards him. I missed his neck, which was what I was aiming for, but I got his other ear. I spat it out, it tasted foul, and then I jumped away before he could get his hands or his teeth near me.

He was howling now, like a wounded animal, which I guess he was. He looked to where his ear sat on the ground and then he yelled something at me in Romanian.

I charged at him again and crushed him against the side of the house. I bit down on whatever I could get into my mouth and came away with a piece of his upper arm.

Now he was _really _pissed.

He came at me then. His arms outstretched and his teeth dripping venom. I knew that the venom wouldn't hurt me unless I had an open wound, and I didn't, so instead of dodging his teeth I let him come at me. Just as he thought he was going to sink his teeth into my shoulder I turned my head, opened my mouth and bit down on his head.

His venom tasted so bitter I gagged as I spat his head out of my mouth. I knew he could put himself back together later on so I pulled his arms and legs off and left him in pieces on the lawn.

Ivana and Abel came through the trees then. They were hollering and calling for me and when they saw that I'd done the job they began cheering my name.

My father came outside then, to see what the outcome had been now that I'd stopped howling. He looked at the pieces of the vamp on the lawn and reached into his pocket. He threw his lighter at Ivana, she caught it in her fist and then she flicked it on and lit the pieces of Santiago on fire.

Everyone was busy gathering the pieces. We had to make sure we got them all.

As soon as I was sure we had I collapsed onto the ground at my father's feet. I let myself phase back to human and as soon as I was able I gasped for my father to help me.

"What is it, son? Are you hurt?" He cried as he looked over my body for wounds.

"Venom. I've got venom in my system." I let the blackness take me then.

**Edward POV**

I heard Seth's distress call and cursed the time I'd wasted toying with Stefan. He was one of the only ones left and I wanted it to be me that ended him, but I desperately wanted to go and help Seth, too.

He was too far away for me to read him at the Rez but I could listen to his mind through his link with his pack. Sam had dispatched Ivana and Abel to help him so I was reasonably satisfied that they'd be okay. Three on one was good odds.

Stefan was pleading for his life now, trying to negotiate with me mentally. I wasn't listening, I was too busy trying to work out what was happening at the Rez.

Seth had taken a few snaps at Santiago and he'd also taken a few decent sized pieces off him too. I allowed myself a small smile and Stefan began to whimper, thinking my smile was related to his predicament. I was happy for him to think that it was.

When Seth's connection to the pack was severed I panicked. "Sam!" I screamed.

I kept Stefan occupied by moving closer to him, forcing him backward and closer to his cowering family, just where he didn't want me to be. While he'd been happy for his guards to slaughter my family he was reluctant to let us anywhere near his. I had no intention of doing anything to them, but he wasn't to know that. I just needed him even more terrified than he already was so I could deal with the Seth problem.

Sam came to me then. "He's either dead or human." I told him.

'_I don't think he's dead, he just phased. I felt him change.' _Sam told me mentally.

Stefan was glaring at me now, trying to work out how to take me down while I was preoccupied with Sam.

Sam bared his teeth at him and he stumbled backward. "Stay there." I told Stefan, pointing my finger at him. He held his hands out in surrender and stood still. I wanted to laugh but held the urge off. Without turning my attention away from Stefan I shouted to Sam, "Send Mary, fast." I don't know how I knew, but I knew that something was wrong.

Sam was already running to find Mary by the time I took my first swipe at Stefan.

He was shocked that I had, too. He thought he could plead for his life. I just wasn't in a compassionate mood that day for some reason.

"You dare to strike me?" He whispered. He was putting on a brave face that did not coincide with his terrified thoughts.

"I do." I struck out again and caught the side of his head, caving it in. I heard the bones of his skull return to their natural stone and smiled.

He cupped where his ear should've been and felt only stone. He bared his teeth and came back swinging. I elbowed him as he went by me but of course it did nothing. No matter, there would be other chances.

He turned and came at me again. I let him come, he was no match for me. I could see in his thoughts that he'd never planned for this scenario, where he'd have to physically fight for his own life. He'd always surrounded himself by thugs willing to do his bidding for him. He'd never thought to prepare for a time when he'd be separated from them. It was exactly why we'd planned things this way.

While his gift was similar to mine it was no use to him in this situation. Without touching me he had no clue as to my intentions, he was completely at my mercy. I had none.

He came at me again and as he went by me he attempted to touch me, to get a look at what my next move would be, but I'd already seen his intent. I struck out and brought my forearm down over his, releasing his arm from his body at the elbow.

He bellowed his pain into the air in a useless show of pent up rage. He turned, determined to destroy me, and I grinned smugly at him, infuriating him further.

He looked down at the ragged stump where his arm used to be and then he looked back at me. His fear was gone now and in its stead there was only fury.

He charged at me once again. I waited a half second until he made his intention clear and when he was one stride past me I turned and pushed at his back, sending him sprawling to the ground on his knees. I wasted no time, I didn't want to drag this out any longer.

I went to him and put my knee to his back. I held onto a shoulder in each of my hands and held him there. I bent slightly at my waist and put my lips to his one remaining functional ear. "You found me guilty, and yet I win."

I slid my hands up and away from his arms and put one on either side of his head and pulled.

Vladimir screamed his anguish as I brandished Stefan's head like a trophy.

For half a second I debated whether or not to announce my triumph with a victory cry. But when I looked to the trees and saw Stefan's children, and saw that his 'daughter' Daria was cowering in the skirts of Vladimir's wife Ana, I changed my mind.

Instead I placed the head on the ground and left it there for the cleanup crew.

I took a few paces towards the trees but the small group cowered away from me in terror.

These three had taken no part in the fight and had stayed at the rear the whole time. I felt no anger towards them for we, too, had onlookers and defenders who chose not to participate. I lifted my hands to show them I meant no harm. "Run, you will not be pursued. Do not come back, ever." I told them.

I watched the three of them tear off through the trees.

"Carmen." I called. When she appeared at my side I pointed to the pieces of Stefan on the ground. "Deal with that, please." I said.

As I turned back towards the formation on the southern side of the clearing I heard Stefan's 'son' Raul's thoughts. _'I will come for you one day Edward Cullen.' _

After today all I could think of was, bring it on little man.

A voice I'd never heard before was calling my name. I turned around and around to see who it was, to place the face with the voice but could not. It sounded vaguely familiar but oddly new as well.

Had my heart still been able to beat it would've stopped with the realisation that it was Bella's mental voice I could hear. Her shield had let me in. She was chanting my name, saying how much she loved me as she circled her prey.

That she had prey was what shook me most. She should be safe and protected inside the circle at the back of the formation.

I ran as fast as I could to the edge of that circle.

Bella was there, and so was Jane.

* * *

**A/N: All I ask is that you tell me your thoughts as you moved through the individual struggles. I so want to know what you all think.**

**Thanks so much for taking the time to read.**


	57. Chapter 57

**A/N: As the fight progresses I'll move through other points of view, to give you a look into individual struggles. Again, I beg your indulgence, some insights were far more interesting than others. I'm sorry if a character you really wanted to hear from is left out, but giving voice to eighty odd vampires was impossible. **

Chapter 57 - You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake -Jeannette Rankin

57.

**Carlisle POV**

I was privy to the planning and I knew where I should be and when, but now that I was forced to actually make good on my promise to Edward all I could think of was running.

I was ashamed to be thinking it and I hoped that Edward was too preoccupied to read the thoughts from me.

I had to stand and watch my family and friends fight while I waited for my number to be called. It was damned near impossible to watch and even harder to reconcile the peaceable people we had always been with the ravenous soldiers I saw running to and fro across the clearing.

I could hear screaming and cursing in many languages as pain was inflicted in every way imaginable. I had known what Edward's call for group one to mobilize was going to achieve and yet it came as a shock to watch Alexi burst into flames. I watched Eric fall, I saw my son lose a hand, Makenna had been burnt and Paul was both bleeding and suffering from broken bones. I was a medical man, and had been my entire three hundred years, and for the first time in that long existence I was bound by loyalty to stand and watch it all unfold, rather than go to the aide of the injured and dying.

My son, my beautiful talented son Edward needed me at his side as he fought to save his family. And so I was bound. Our Bella had done remarkably well to hold off Ariana, Jane and Alec while our soldiers went crashing headlong into battle against them.

Our losses were far less so far than what the Romanians were suffering and yet I still mourned the fact that this was necessary at all.

I knew that my girls, Esme Bella and Nessa, were all safe inside the formation that had been cleverly built around them and yet I yearned to run to them and flee this war. With almost all the attention focused at the front of the battle it would be a simple thing to achieve. I had never been a coward but I had always sought the peaceful resolution to any conflict, but by stepping aside and allowing my sons to plan this I'd relinquished my authority.

I took half a second to wonder if I'd ever truly want it back again. If I managed to survive my part in this horrendous day I wanted only to return to my work at the hospital and spend some time with my family at our home. I no aspirations to be a leader and I wanted nothing to do with repeating this situation, ever, for any reason.

Edward called six and I had to watch on as my daughter Rosalie ran towards Ariana. When the shout of seven rang out I began to tremble. My number was next.

The Beta wolf Paul thundered across the clearing with his group and towards where Rosie was attempting to isolate Ariana. Their task was to lure Gabriella and Constantin away from her, forcing her to abandon Vladimir.

While standing and watching had been torturous actually having to participate was going to be infinitely harder. I hoped I could fulfil my obligation to my son.

Please god just let me acquit myself to the best of my ability. And please, if it's possible, please let Eleazar be true to his word.

"EIGHT!" Edward bellowed and I stiffened.

Eleazar came from the rear ranks and pulled me along by the sleeve as we headed out into battle.

Vladimir looked so frightened and out of place amongst the carnage I almost felt sorry for him. Perhaps a truce should be offered? Some type of surrender agreement at the very least? Surely he could now see that he stood no chance of winning with his life in tact if he chose to fight us?

I was about to ask Eleazar to slow his pace, see if we could end this in any way peacefully when Vladimir slipped into a low crouch and hissed at our advancement.

I remembered his words as we'd faced off, 'you'll get no leniency from us' he'd said to his brother. The time for talk had passed.

We both knew how we were to tackle him and as I increased my pace beside Eleazar I could see him squaring his shoulders and preparing for impact. It was at that point I knew that I could trust him. He was going to fulfil his promise to Edward, as was I.

A surge of power welled inside me. As my feet flew along the ground beneath me I drew reassurance and support from the man at my side. As I lifted my arm to reach for his I shared my power across the bond we formed as we linked arms. When our joined bodies crashed into Vladimir, knocking him backwards onto the ground, both Eleazar and I roared into the air.

I had never struck out in anger before, but now that I had there was no turning back. Pain, frustration, anger and fear all welled into a ball of strength and became a tangible thing inside me, on which I could draw power.

Vladimir sprung to his feet quickly, spinning to once again face us. His jaw was clenched in righteous indignation and I knew he was utterly furious at us both.

"How dare you!" He hissed, venom flying from the corners of his mouth.

Eleazar laughed. "I dare because you are wrong, this is wrong and you've given us no choice." He looked to me then and with a slight nod we were once again moving.

Again we linked arms, again Vladimir underestimated our resolve, and again he fell to the ground. I'd argued that using the same move twice was foolish but once again Jasper's knowledge was proven superior. Vladimir never once thought we'd charge at him, let alone twice in the same manner.

He leapt to his feet unhurt. His attention wavered for several seconds as he looked to where Edward was sparring with Stefan. With a turn of his head to the left he could see that Ariana was being attacked by Rosie and Charlotte and that his shield and bodyguard were heavily outnumbered by members of our ranks. He returned his gaze to the two of us and in his eyes I saw the first seeds of doubt.

Eleazar sprang into action the instant Vladimir's attention was diverted and he came around behind his brother. I rushed toward Vladimir and as he moved backwards to avoid me he collided with Eleazar, just as we'd hoped he would.

Eleazar lifted his hands and put them to the middle of Vladimir's back, between his shoulder blades. He jolted forward as I took his knees out from under him with a swipe of my arm as I ran past. Now he was on his stomach on the ground and completely at our mercy. Eleazar had been swift and moved above him, pinning him to the ground with the heel of his boot to the back of his neck. He held both his arms in his hands, holding them as far back as he could without detaching them.

"Beg." He hissed as Vladimir spat dirt out from between his lips.

"Brother..." Vladimir choked on the word and Eleazar snorted. "Please..."

"You may call me informer." He replied with a snide laugh. "Carlisle." He looked to me and I felt the first pangs of doubt. Could I carry out this part of my duties? "You must, brother." Eleazar told me, lifting Vladimir's arms higher, forcing his face lower to the ground.

I hesitated and Eleazar saw the moment of indecision on my face. "You must!" He roared. "You swore yourself to Edward, you must."

I looked over my shoulder and saw Edward with Stefan's head in his hands. Vladimir was all that stood between my family and the peaceful existence I wanted.

"God forgive me."I whispered as I bent over Vladimir's prone form.

I slid my hands under his head and pulled. It came away cleanly and easily. I threw it aside and rubbed my hands down my thighs hoping to remove the feel of death from them.

Eleazar let Vladimir's body go and he leapt across it and took my shoulders into his hands. "Go, heal the wounded." He shouted into my still shocked face.

I didn't look back at the carnage I'd created with my own hands. Instead I looked forwards. I ran right down the middle of the formation, out the other side and threw myself to the ground at the feet of the now human Paul. His pain was intense and he needed some relief from it while I reset his bones. He was already healing but the bones were setting out of place, if I didn't hurry he'd lose the leg. He still might I thought as I reached for my medical bag.

Nathaniel dropped to his knees beside me. "Tell me what you need."

**Bella POV**

With Renesmee out of the way and safe I could focus all my attention on the quickly advancing Jane.

"Stay back." I held my arms out and made sure that nobody came any closer to where I stood. "She's mine." I hissed.

"Let us help." Jasper was whispering. He had a look on his face that made it look like he was constipated and I guessed he was trying to calm me down, but I was too worked up for it to have too much of an effect.

"Stay back." I told him again.

Emmett too tried to convince me to let others take care of the situation, but I wasn't having it. "Come on sissy, drop back, there's plenty of us." He whispered.

"Go and get your hand sorted you idiot." I stormed at him when he came around to my right side and attempted to reach out his good hand for me.

He huffed and dropped back. Rosie didn't bother with the niceties. She just moved so I could see her and then she winked. "Beat the shit out of her for me." She whispered then dragged Emmett off towards Carlisle.

I could see Zafrina slowly making her way back to our formation and I held up a hand to stop her. She stopped but she looked puzzled. She tilted her head to the side and stared at Jane for a long moment. "Good luck Jane." She laughed and then dropped back to help Carlisle and Nathaniel with the wounded.

Before the plan came to mind I took half a second to say my goodbyes to Edward. I'd tried to use my shield to open my mind to him before, but he'd never said it had worked and I hadn't wanted to disappoint him by admitting I couldn't do it. But today my shield felt more flexible than it ever had. I'd had flawless control over it all day, using it to protect the others from Jane and Alec and Ariana. Even Nicolau had been useless against it.

It was inside me now though. All of it nestled inside my body. I drew energy from it. If Jane twitched an eyebrow at anyone other than me I'd be ready to force it outward to protect them, but for now I needed it with me.

I relaxed it and let its colour change from pink to a pearly white and then I called Edward's name silently. He didn't reply either audibly or mentally so I said what I had to say and got on with the task at hand.

'Edward! Edward! If you can hear me I love you, I will always love you, thank you for Renesmee.' I told him and then I opened my eyes and stared down Jane.

I let a grin spread across my face when I noticed her hands were shaking. "Don't be afraid." I told her with a snarl. "Death is just a different state of consciousness." I laughed.

Kate sniggered and it enraged Jane further. She hissed and slipped lower into her crouch. She moved left then right in a small arc, undecided which way she wanted to come at me.

She took a few steps forward and so did I, distancing myself from my group, needing to put some space between them and this fight. We circled twice more, completing an entire circuit of the centre of the group before she made her first lunge.

I skipped sideways like Jaz had taught me and clipped her shoulder with my elbow as she went flying by. It didn't hurt me but she stumbled as she turned to come at me again. I was still smiling when she flew by me a second time. This time I raised my arm and brought it down on top of her shoulder as she whizzed past in a blur. I was left wondering if I'd even connected with her but as I whirled around to confront her again she was knelt on the ground trying to gather her severed arm to her with her other hand.

Quite casually I stepped toward it and kicked it away. "You won't need that where you're going." I hissed.

I let her get to her feet before I went for her again. This time I forced my fist into her stomach as I charged. She flew backwards and landed with a thud about ten feet away, clear of the group just as I'd hoped.

I could hear Edward charging towards us now, he was shouting my name and telling me to stay away from her, but he was too late. I'd already closed the distance and was lunging for her again. She was on her feet but hadn't quite made herself steady, her missing arm made her unbalanced and she'd had no time to learn to fight without it. I saw my chance and took it.

"Stay away!"I screamed at Edward as I reached out my hand and took Jane by the throat.

She thrashed and twisted hoping to dislodge me but I was stronger. I held her there and with one mighty push I turned myself over, coming up underneath her so her head was facing upwards to the sky and I held her over my shoulder, both my hands around her throat.

I pulled as hard as I could and felt the first creaks and groans of her head and neck beginning to give way.

"Bella!" Edward was screaming but I couldn't look for him, not when I was so close to finishing this once and for all.

"Stay away." I screamed again and hoped he listened.

I bent my knees and pulled her then, over my shoulder and onto the ground at my feet. There were cracks in her face radiating from her neck upwards towards her eyes. I'd almost killed her with the force of my hands around her throat, but she was still in there, still fighting me.

I yanked her up using the front of her cloak. Then I forced her back onto the ground on her stomach. I changed my grip to the back of her cloak and held her while I set my feet and shoulders. When I was ready I pulled her upwards and angled her so I could get a clean go at her throat.

Her head tilted back ever so slightly but it was enough. I bared my teeth and tore at her flesh. I pushed her away and watched her fall beside her own severed head.

I stood panting and looking over what I'd done. I'd just killed someone.

Edward was there then, pulling me away from her body, tugging on my hand and whispering for me to come away. I was shaking so hard I couldn't walk properly; it was as though the connection between my brain and my feet had been broken.

I could still hear screaming. It was so loud it was as though it was inside my head.

Nobody was running now though. Everyone was still. Perfectly still like only vampires could be.

But still she screamed, whoever she was she was screaming blue murder.

"Shh, it's over, shhh baby, it's all over." Edward was cooing softly to me.

I sought his eyes and just stared into them. Why won't she stop screaming if it's over? I wondered. That's when I realised that it was me screaming.

I stopped. Reined it in like I had my shield. I pushed it back down inside myself and let it live there until I could bring the scream out later and use it up another time. The sound faded slowly and then I could look around and see a little more clearly. Now they were all silent _and _still.

"It's over?" I asked in a voice that didn't even sound like mine.

Edward folded me into his arms and kissed my matted hair. "It's over." He whispered against my temple. "It's over and we're still here."

I was clutching at him then, my nails digging into his skin below his shirt as I grabbed handfuls of it and pulled him closer. A massive rush of relief flowed over me. I was yelling but couldn't help it, my emotions were so out of control I no longer knew what was coming out of my mouth and what was silent thought. "It's over?" I asked over and over again as he nodded. He was smiling so beautifully I thought it must be a dream. Could it really be done? Could I be finally allowed to have my forever with him? "You're alive?" I was yelling at him for an answer but didn't wait for a reply before I was yelling again. "You're here and you're alive and you love me and I love you and we're here and they're gone and we're okay and we won and it's over..."I rambled as he laughed.

He put his hands on my shoulders and held me still. When I stopped shouting he smiled once again and spoke very quietly, "It's over, we're alive and yes, I love you and you love me. We won, we get forever Isabella." And then he kissed me, hard.

I let myself savour the kiss for a moment and then, suddenly, it was as though a light switch had been flicked on inside my head. I pushed him away and shouted 'Renesmee!'

He cringed and I searched his face for answers.

I grabbed his shirt again, "Tell me." I demanded.

"I think she's okay, she was with Seth, but one of the guard followed him when you sent them away." He was shaking his head and trembling in my hands.

"Why can't you hear him?" I begged.

"He phased back, the connection was lost. Leah sent Ivana and Abel but I don't know what happened after that. Mary's gone there too..."

I didn't bother to listen for the rest. I was already running.

**Edward POV**

"Let her go." Jasper said as he held onto my arm firmly. I struggled against him for a moment and then he put a hand on my shoulder. "Ed, let her go. You're needed here. You'll find out soon enough."

"She's my daughter." I managed to bleat out raggedly.

"I know Ed, I know, but you've got responsibilities here too. All these people have just fought for you. You need to finish what we started brother. I'll go, as soon as I know something I'll call, keep your cell handy." He released my shoulder and then he was running too.

I hadn't had time to come to terms with what we'd achieved. I felt lost and abandoned with them both running away towards the Rez without me. I didn't know what I should be doing now; I couldn't recall this part of the plan. We didn't pay much attention to what would happen should we win because none of us had truly thought we would.

I allowed myself one more shake of my head to clear it out and then I searched the area for Peter and Sam. With Jasper away they were next in the line of command. I found Peter with Charlotte. Her foot was healing fast but he looked so awful, so frightened, I couldn't bring myself to ask him to leave her side just yet.

I found Sam as he was checking on the small groups that had formed in a ring around the makeshift medical area Carlisle had set up.

He was human now and looked in good shape. He had a few pinkish marks on his shoulders that he'd gotten in battle but nothing that would hinder him in any way. He shook my hand when I came to his side. I thanked him for all he'd done and asked him to begin a sweep of the area for body parts. He nodded once and then ran to collect Carmen, Melinda, Ethan and Irina to begin the search.

I went to Carlisle then. "What do you need from me?" I asked as he pulled the strapping on Paul's right leg tighter. He lifted his eyes to mine briefly and I saw the concentration on his face. He was worried that if he didn't reset the bones soon Paul could lose the leg. I nodded to show I'd heard the thought and turned to find Liam and Siobhan right behind me ready do as I asked. "He needs to be at the big house as fast as you can. I'll send Esme with you. Carlisle won't be long. Do what you need to make him comfortable." They nodded and I moved along the line.

I found Esme sitting beside Emmett. "I need you to go to the house with Paul. He'll need pain killers until Carlisle gets there." She nodded and stood, letting Emmett's hand go.

She put her hand to my cheek and mouthed I love you before helping Liam scoop Paul up off the ground.

Emmett was lying on the ground quite still. "Lost a fucking hand." He grumbled.

It was obvious it had been retrieved and was now reattached but I also knew he'd hate to be lying there still while it knitted. He wanted to be up and about and helping like everyone else. "Give it a minute." I told him and moved on. I knew that very soon I needed to be explaining to him what Eric's death would mean for him and Rosie, but for now I needed to survey the damage.

Busra lie beside him. From the grimace on his face his leg had been reattached a while after Emmett's hand had, so it was not quite as far into its healing as Emmett's was. He was in some pain but putting a brave face on it. I shook his hand and wished him well.

Makenna had gotten a bad burn to her arm. I'd seen it happen as I fought with Stefan. It should never have happened, but it had and I could do nothing about it now. She was healing well, the skin on her arm was already returning to its normal pale white, but it hurt badly to be burned, she was lucky to be alive and she knew it.

Carlisle had moved on to Jack now. He was lying on his side leaning up against Leah. His breathing was laboured and he looked very pale for a native boy. "What happened?" I asked. I hadn't seen this part of the fight because I had wanted to be ignorant to Eric's demise. I didn't want to replay his end over and over while I watched his child grow.

"Damn fool jumped in front of a vampire for me." Leah huffed but her thoughts were filled with love and devotion to the boy in her arms. "Saved my life." She beamed up at me.

I saw from his thoughts that he was in pain but healing. He'd been crushed about his ribs and waist and wasn't too sure if he had suffered any internal damage. "Carlisle, he thinks his ribs are broken and he may have punctured a lung." I told my father as he moved his hands along the boys torso.

'_Six dead, Edward. We need to move them now, before the others see them.' _Carlisle told me as he reached into his bag for more pain killers.

I put my hand onto his shoulder and squeezed. I'd heard his thoughts as he'd ended Vladimir and knew that life for my father and sire was going to be tough for a while. "I'll take care of it." I told him before moving back down the line towards Emmett.

My cell phone began ringing and I had it in my hand in a heartbeat. "What's happening?" I barked into it as Emmett got to his feet, ready to help.

He leaned over and I pulled the phone away from my ear so he could hear too. "Nessa's fine, she's with Charlie and Renee. Seth's in bad shape. Santiago had a mouth full of venom when Seth tore into him, he swallowed it. Mary's healed his wounds, just some bruising mostly, but she can't do anything about the venom. What do we do?" Jasper was rushing through the explanation so I knew things were pretty bad there.

"Shit." Em cursed.

Carlisle had heard and he was already moving towards us. "Tell Jasper I'm on my way. Get Nessa out of there, tell Jasper to make sure Harry and Sue are on hand. He needs a blood transfusion, we have to get the venom out of his system." He was preparing to run that way when I put a hand out and stopped him.

"Wait." I shouted. "Give me a second." I said to both Carlisle and Jasper via the phone.

Carlisle couldn't be in three places at once. Here to help Jack, at the big house to save Paul's leg and at the Rez transfusing Seth.

I turned to the group who were still waiting for instructions. "Aro and Dieter, you take Busra home. Jonathon and Randall, you take Jack, he's had a crush injury so go slow. Can you get there Makenna?" I asked. She nodded and I turned back to Carlisle. "You're needed there most. With them all on hand you can set up a triage there." He was about to protest and I could see from his thoughts why.

"Seth?" He asked carefully.

"I'll fix it. Leave me what you can. Go." I thundered after him, he was already running back to his bag. I put the phone back to my ear, "I'll be there Jasper, just keep him calm and comfortable." I rang off and turned to search the remaining group. "Benjamin, I need you to take the bodies back to the big house. Run them there, get a car, I don't care how. Put them in the pool house until we are all there together again. Can you organise that?" I asked him but he was nodding before I'd finished the sentence.

I turned to Emmett.

"What do you need me to do?" He asked, lifting his hand to my face to show me he was fine, before I asked.

I looked for Alice and saw her running towards Rosie who was still throwing body parts onto the bonfire.

It had to be done now. "Alice!" I shouted. She stopped and threw me a thumbs up and then she continued running towards Rosie. I turned back to Emmett. "You have to go now." I told him. "Don't go home first, go now, to the airport. There are tickets and clothes and shit there already. Call when you can, but go now."

**Bella POV**

Charlie came running towards me as I hit the road inside the Rez. "Where is she?" I screamed before he reached me.

"With your mother, she's fine but you have to hurry, it's Seth." He was yelling right back.

My heart leapt to hear that my daughter was alright but plummeted when I learnt that Seth was not.

I skidded to a stop when I saw him lying on the front lawn. He looked green. Like death would soon take him. I sunk to my knees and held him tight. He was cold. Freezing cold. Someone had flung a blanket over him but he was shivering badly. "More blankets." I barked to whoever could hear me.

Harry came outside with a stack of them and together we piled them onto Seth's body. He hadn't said anything and by the look of him he might not be able to. I put my ear to his chest and listened for his heartbeat. It was thumping wildly. He was panting as though he was still in his wolf form and I could see the effort it took for each breath.

"What happened?" I asked him, holding him to me.

Jasper came out from between the trees then. He ran towards us calling my name.

"Venom." Seth rasped and I gasped.

"Jaz, hurry, he's been poisoned. What do we do?" I begged him as he came closer.

He had his cell phone in his hand and in a split second he was explaining the situation to Edward. I could hear him on the other end barking orders to whoever was around him.

I heard Carlisle say he needed a transfusion and that Harry and Sue should stay close. I called for my father then. He came back outside with my mother and Renesmee. I gave her a weak smile and told her everything was going to be okay, but she needed to go and stay with Nana-Me for a while so that daddy and I could make Seth feel better.

She wriggled her way free from Renee's arms and ran towards me. She threw herself at me and I grabbed for her gratefully. "Oh mommy I was so scared and then a bad man came and hurt Sethy and I didn't know what to do and Harry yelled at me to stay inside and Sethy is all shivery look." She looked down at her beloved and choked back a sob.

"I know sweetheart. But I need you to be brave a little while longer, okay?" She began to nod and I handed her back to my father. "Take her to the Cullen's dad, Esme is expecting you both too." I told him.

I didn't wait for his reply I simply bent over Seth's prone form and told him I'd help as best I could, that he should hang on, that Edward was coming.

He couldn't reply, he'd passed out. Jasper threw himself onto the ground beside us then. "He's not going to make it till Ed gets here. We have to suck the venom back out."

"You're fucking kidding me, right?" I barked.

He was shaking his head, no. He was also leaping backwards. "I can't do it, I'll kill him, I can't taste his blood Bell's." He was walking backwards away from Seth and me, faster and faster until he was backed up against the house.

I looked down at Seth. He was whiter than ever now. The shivering was slowing down, as was his heart rate. I knew Jaz was right, we were out of time. "Okay." I said firmly. "I can do this." I said out loud. It was for my benefit but Jaz was nodding in agreement. "How do I do this?" I asked as an afterthought.

"Bite, suck until his blood is clean, you'll taste the difference." He whispered and turned his head.

"Get Harry and Sue out of here, just in case." I told him and bent my head over Seth. If this ignited my bloodlust I didn't want full humans around. Seth's blood wouldn't be as tasty to me as theirs would, but it would be close enough. "Seth, sweetheart, I'm sorry if this hurts. I'll do my best. I love you."

I took one last deep breath and pulled his wrist to my mouth. I bit down as gently as I could. His flesh opened up to my teeth easily and as the first droplets of his blood entered my mouth I groaned.

I'd never tasted human blood before but I'd smelled it plenty. This wasn't even close to that scent and yet it was so fucking delicious I couldn't help but suck harder.

It had vampire venom in it, of course, unfamiliar vampire venom which made it taste a little bitter, but I soon got used to that. I closed my eyes and savoured it. I sucked hungrily, making sure I could still taste the venom.

Seth groaned quietly and I opened my eyes, looked over his shoulder and saw Edward running towards us. I hadn't smelled him because the blood in my mouth had taken over all my senses.

"Bella!" he was calling.

I groaned again when Seth's blood lost the venom flavour and turned into a river of exquisite warm nectar in my mouth. I sucked harder, needing more and more of it as it ran down my throat.

"Bella stop!" Edward shouted as he slid to his knees beside us. "Bella, stop, you're killing him." He yelled.

I snarled under my breath at him. I couldn't stop, he couldn't make me, I wanted this. It was mine.

He reached across Seth and touched me on the arm. The familiar sting startled me. "Bella, sweetheart, you have to stop now." He whispered, stroking my forearm gently. "Sweetheart, please, listen to my voice. I know you want more, I know, but that's Seth, love. You love him, remember, Renesmee loves him. You have to stop."

I closed my eyes and thought about what he said. This was Seth. My Seth. Nessa's Seth.

I ran my tongue over the wounds I'd made on his wrist and withdrew my mouth. I still wanted more, I'd always want more, but I wanted Seth with us much, much more than I wanted his blood.

"Oh god." I mumbled as I pushed myself up and off his body. I ran to the far side of the road and gagged. "Oh god. Oh god. What have I done? What have I done?" I chanted over and over as Edward bent over him, putting his ear to his chest.

"You've saved his life Bella." He lifted his eyes to mine and smiled.

All I could say was 'oh god'.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much for reading. Please review, even if you hated it please write and tell me why so I can improve. **

**I think there is one more chapter left in this story. Tie up a few loose ends and let everyone come to grips with what they've had to do. Perhaps two, depending how wordy these vamps get ;)**

**Those who have been reviewing know there is more in store for these guys and that there is a small side story that will be uploaded by the end of this week regarding Eric's mate and their child. So keep an eye out for that.**


	58. Chapter 58

**A/N: In the Authors Note at the bottom of the last chapter I mentioned there may only be one, or two, more chapters to this story. Upon review, and after listening to the advice of my editor, I have decided to expand the 'aftermath' to include those points of view that I gave you during the fight. **

**Some will be brief, others complicated. **

**Sorry for any confusion for those thinking this would be the last chapter. **

Chapter 58 – You know the real meaning of PEACE only if you have been through the war - Kosovar

58.

**Edward POV**

"Jaz, get Harry and Sue to the big house." He was standing twenty feet away holding his breath. He told me silently that he'd take good care of them and then he ran to the back of the house. I turned to Bella who was standing on the other side of the road with a pained expression on her face, clutching at her throat with her hand. "Go, hunt love." I told her as I picked Seth up off the ground and held him to me.

She was still mumbling 'oh god, oh god, what have I done' as she ran back through the trees at the end of the road.

I had no time to ponder what the consequences of what she'd just had to do were going to be. Seth was breathing shallowly and he still felt cooler than he should so I wanted to get him to the big house as soon as possible. With his parents and sister there he'd recover faster and Carlisle would want to check on him, maybe draw some blood to make sure the venom was really all gone.

I didn't doubt that it was, Bella was drinking from him in great gulps and had been even before I'd come through the trees. I knew she was capable of draining a human body in two minutes so I had to hope that I'd stopped her before she'd taken too much.

"Seth, son, can you hear me?" I whispered over him as I began to run. He never answered and his thoughts were plain black, as though he wasn't in there anymore.

I hoped I hadn't lied when I'd told Bella she'd saved his life. Only time would tell.

**Bella POV**

I took down two big male deer before my thirst even began to abate. I could still taste Seth's blood in my mouth and wondered if I would ever be free of that flavour ever again.

I had no doubt that had Edward not arrived when he had I'd have killed Seth. I'd have drained every last ounce and then gone looking for more. I didn't want to crave blood at all and hoped that I could learn to only crave animal blood now that I'd had something else.

A little something else presented itself in the shape of another deer and I leapt on it with abandon. I tore at its throat and drank every drop that I could suck from the wound.

I was filthy both from the kill and the fighting earlier. My hair was matted with my venom and Janes, there were grass stains all over me from where I'd thrown myself to the ground beside Seth and now I had his blood and animal blood all over my face and hands.

If I went home looking like this everyone would panic so I made for the cottage first.

It felt so strange being in the cottage on my own. I never thought I'd see it again, let alone get the chance to live in it ever again. I ran through rooms and childishly said hello to them all. I drank in Nessa's scent from her room and sighed when I smelled Seth's where it clung to the futon in the living room. Would Nessa ever forgive me for what I had to do to him today?

I wondered if everyone else felt like I did. Now that we'd won. Did they all want their families close by, did they want to touch and smell them all the time too? I guessed I'd find out when I got to the big house.

I showered as fast as I could and threw on some clean jeans and a t-shirt. Not having my locket on made me feel incomplete and I hoped Edward still had it with him.

The big house was almost silent as I ran towards it. I couldn't hear any voices until I was almost all the way to the back decking. And even then the ones I did hear were whispered.

I looked aside to the pool house and saw Susan, Olivia, Rennie and Rau standing guard at the door. I wondered why until I put the pieces together and realised that these were the guards who were watching over the bodies of the dead.

I bobbed my head to them and went inside.

Nessa flew at me and up into my arms. She might be the size of a six year old but she was feather light to me and felt so, so good as I hugged and kissed her.

She was very, very quiet though. She didn't say anything, just made a funny little squeaky noise as I hugged her tight. I looked over her shoulder to where Esme stood at the kitchen counter. I wanted to ask if the little girl had said anything to her as yet but couldn't, not with Nessa on my hip.

There were so many people I needed to talk with, so many to thank, so much to say to everyone. I didn't know where to start but guessed that everyone was in the same boat. Nessa wasn't heavy and it was obvious that she had no intention of letting me go, so I walked through the house with her.

Eleazar came to my side as I moved towards the dining room that had been set up as a makeshift medical centre for Carlisle. He grabbed for my wrist and held it firmly. "Do you have your thirst under control?" He whispered.

"I think so, why?" I asked him. I felt differently towards him now and wondered if Edward did too.

"The wolves are in there as well as Harry and Sue." He said gravely.

I swallowed involuntarily when I thought about how good Seth had smelled and tasted earlier. But Edward was right, he was Seth and I loved him. He was Nessa's mate, that overrode any thoughts I was going to be having about his blood.

"I'm alright. Who else is in there?" I asked, just to make sure.

"Edward, Carlisle and Mary." He told me.

I reached for his hand and squeezed it. "Thank you." I whispered.

He smiled but said nothing further, he just stepped aside and let me through.

Nessa clung to my neck as we went through the archway. I patted her back and took her with me as I stood in front of where Jack was lying on the huge table. He had blankets spread out under him and a pillow under his head. Leah sat at the head end of where he lay and she was stroking his hair. He looked better than he had in the clearing, he had more colour and seemed to be breathing easier.

Paul was lying next to him on the table, his right leg already in bandages. He had a wide pink line across his face that stretched from his left ear to just past his nose. It had healed over but I could still smell the wound. He was asleep and snoring loudly so I left him alone.

Seth was lying on the far end of the table covered in blankets. Edward stood at his head, Carlisle at his feet. Neither of them looked particularly happy.

Harry stood by the windows and Sue sat on one of the dining room chairs beside him. Mary hovered close by.

"How is he?" I asked, beginning to tremble.

Nessa buried her face in my hair and refused to turn herself back around so she could see him.

Edward grimaced as he looked at her and I wondered what he was reading.

"He's a little better. Warming up well." Carlisle told me with a weak smile.

"But?" I asked knowing there would be one.

Carlisle was about to answer when Edward growled deep in the back of his throat, stopping him. It was Edward who spoke instead. "He's going to be fine Bella. He just needs to rest. Come Nessa, come and lay down with him, he'll get better much quicker with you around little one."

He reached for her and she cringed away. I was about to ask her what the matter was when Edward took her from me anyway. She struggled for a few seconds but then calmed.

He walked back to the top of the table and put a blanket into the space beside where Seth lay. He looked down at his daughter and smiled. "It's alright my love, he will smell like himself in no time. Pa had to give him some extra blood and it smells a little funny, doesn't it?" He asked and I startled.

I must have gasped too because Edward's eyes flew to mine and so did Carlisle's.

"I took too much." I whispered.

I might have gotten the poison out but I'd taken far too much after that. He'd needed the transfusion anyway.

Edward put Nessa onto the table and she snuggled down beside her love. She curled up beside him and was soon asleep herself. Carlisle arranged another blanket over them and went back to check on the others.

Edward came to me and took my hand into his. "He's going to be fine, I swear. Smell." He told me.

I raised my nose and took a long pull. I could smell Seth's normal scent but also another, mixed in with his. His was strongest though and I smiled at Edward. "Will there be lasting effects?" I asked carefully, mindful of his parents so close by.

I needn't have worried, Edward was shaking his head. "No, Carlisle doesn't think so. You did so well beautiful girl." He bent to kiss me lightly on my lips. He smiled radiantly. "We'll never be rid of him now he owes you his life." He chuckled.

Nessa snuffled in her sleep and we both turned to make sure she was alright. "She hasn't spoken to me, has she to you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, but she will. She's just frightened still. She hasn't reconciled the fires in the clearing with the 'bad men' being gone. We'll need to explain it to her tomorrow. She was expecting a party, celebrating at the very least and can't understand why we aren't. She thinks the threat still exists." He said solemnly.

I heard Esme gasp from the kitchen at Edward's explanation. "It will take some time for me to get my head around it, I suppose she'll be the same." I mumbled into his chest as he pulled me to him.

We watched over then as they slept for a little while and then we split apart and went to talk with the others.

There was so much to say.

**Charlie Swan POV**

I had never seen so many vampires before. Of course that wasn't such a strange thing seeing as I'd only known eight of them in the first place and those I'd only met a couple years ago. There had been a few more at the wedding and then a few more again for the christening, but this...this was staggering.

The Cullen house was swarming with them now. I'd been introduced to a heap of them but could hardly remember a single name. They were all real different from the Cullen's. Some had accents depending on what country they came from and some were dark skinned, which I had assumed was impossible. Shows how much I know, right?

I thought of myself as pretty progressive when it came to the supernatural. I had friends who could turn into wolves and my daughter was not only married to a vampire but she was one herself. Oh, and my granddaughter was half human and half vampire. To top it off she was bonded with a wolf.

I began to wonder what would happen if I told the truth to someone. What if tomorrow at work one of my deputy's asks how my weekend went? And what if I told him the truth? What if I said, "Mark, you won't believe this. But yesterday there was this big war out in the woods, you know that clearing where those Johansen kids lit that car wreck on fire that summer? Well, see, these Romanians decided that my daughters little girl, she's a hybrid you see, half vampire half human and bonded to a wolf to boot, they think she's evil and want rid of her. They came yesterday and seventy or so vampires, the good kind, they fought with them and won. My girl had to suck the vampire venom out of her future son in laws veins to save his life, right there on Harry Clearwater's front lawn. Oh yeah, and then I spent the rest of the day at the Cullen house with all those vampires." Then I'd time it to see how long it took for the men in white coats to come calling for me. Not long would be my guess.

Renee hadn't slept for days. She was almost asleep on her feet she was so exhausted. Esme had given her a cup of tea when we'd arrived and she was sitting at the little kitchen table with her now. I think Esme was trying to explain how it all went, minus the gory details I hoped. Every now and then Renee looked for me. When she found me she gave me a weak smile. I wanted a quiet word with Bella and then a less quiet one with Edward and then I would take her to the guest room and let her sleep. I might sleep too, no telling what I was going to see when I finally shut my eyes though.

Edward came to me then. He'd probably heard me thinking about needing a word. I'd have to remember to tell Deputy Mark that my son in law read minds. That should speed up the men with the white coats.

"You needed a word Charlie?" Edward said as he came by me. "How about we head out to the deck?" He suggested and I nodded.

He went via the kitchen and took two beers out of the refrigerator before coming outside to me on the decking. He opened one of the beers and handed it to me but kept the other for himself, the lid still on. They knew I felt odd drinking on my own so they tried real hard to blend in. They were good like that.

"What's on your mind, dad?" He asked as he sat in a lawn chair beside me. It was still strange for me when he called me that. Not because I didn't like it but because he was more than twice my age.

"You'd know." I laughed.

He laughed too, just a little. The poor kid had been through hell and back. Tough as nails he was. I admired that about him. He never let it look like he was doing it tough, though he had to have been the past few weeks.

"I tried to keep a lid on it for the girls, Charlie." He said real quiet.

I knew that everyone within a mile would hear our conversation. I knew lots of things about vampires. "You did well kid." I told him.

He nodded. "I think we're going to be okay."

"Nessa's real quiet." I told him hoping he'd be able to shed some light on that for me.

He grimaced and I stiffened. Anything that made him grimace couldn't be good.

"We had to transfuse Seth. So he smells different to her. She was frightened for him, that's all, thinking he was different now, that something was still wrong. Give him a few days and he'll be good as new. He'll smell like himself by then too and she'll come good. Please don't worry." He told me.

"And Bella?" I asked. I knew I should be asking her, and I would, but I wanted to know what he thought too.

"I think she'll be okay too. I did my best to keep most of it from her, but in the end she had to...at the end she was left with no choice but to...she had to defend herself Charlie. I haven't talked to her about it yet myself." He told me.

I could tell he didn't want me to know details and I was grateful for that. I didn't want to know them either. I had enough details in my head to last a lifetime already. "Thank you." I whispered. I held my hand out across the distance between our two chairs and he shook my hand eagerly.

"You're welcome." He whispered in return.

"Go on, bugger off. Let an old man enjoy his beer in peace." I told him.

He laughed and put a hand on my shoulder as he left. His soft squeeze told me all I needed to know. They'd be okay.

**Jasper POV**

I sat on Edward's misery rock with my wife between my knees.

I'd hunted and she'd met me here afterwards. She'd done her part at the house, helping everyone settle in after the battle. She'd seen to Charlie and Renee with Esme and then she'd come here, knowing it's where I'd be.

I held her. I held her tight. There were such strong emotions buzzing around at the house I was happy to stay away for a little while longer. Alice radiated nothing but relief and lust for me. Both of those were good. I felt them too.

It was natural for us to want to celebrate the victory with sex, and I was sure that at some point we would, but not right now.

I felt hollow. I had been so sure we were going to lose I'd never planned for what would come after. Oh, we had an aftermath plan in place. Who to send where and what to do with the injured and the dead, but none of us had thought to plan for what life would hold afterward.

I'd fought so many battles in my time, both as a human and as a vampire, but none had meant as much as this one. This wasn't just a victory for the Cullen's or for Nessa or Seth, this was a victory for our way of life. We'd overthrown the ruling clan. We'd ousted them from their seat of power and had taken them on and won. I had no doubt this would change things, in ways I probably couldn't imagine yet, but there would be covens out there who would now feel free to travel. They'd feel free to stretch themselves in ways they hadn't thought to before. I knew the way a battle such as this one would change borders. I'd seen it happen. Groups that had never thought to move about would begin to and covens who were once nomads would find a place and settle down. New partnerships would be formed, new relationships founded and new pairs mated. Some bonds would be tested, others strengthened.

The hybrids would never be the same again. Especially Nessa. She'd seen far too much for someone so young. Nathaniel and Angelica would be together from now on. Edward knew it and I felt it from them, they'd forged a deep seated bond that I doubted could be broken by anything.

I wondered what effect our family would suffer.

"Are you ready for me to tell you now?" Alice whispered from her perch between my knees.

"I think so, yes. If you want to tell me." I whispered.

I had known something was going on with her and Edward behind the scenes but up until now it hadn't mattered to me. If I was supposed to know before I would've been told.

"I want to tell you." She squeezed my hand as it rested on her shoulder and then she took a deep breath. "Eric had a human mate..."

**Randall POV**

I watched as Aro and Tanya disappeared out the front door of the Cullen place and wished for the thousandth time that I had someone to sneak away with.

The other men in my group were busy with their mates. Peter was still hovering over Charlotte and Julian was wrapped around Mary while she continued to help heal the wolves.

That left me alone, as usual. I guess that's why I liked Edward so much. He'd spent a hundred years alone, like me. But now he had a family of his own and I was eaten by jealousy. He even had the good fortune to have parents in law that loved and accepted him! I'd even heard that he and Bella had human friends and that they saw them socially from time to time. That was almost unheard of in our kind, that ability to move between our twin selves. I thought about Edward then and knew that if any of us could pull it off it would be him.

I'd heard him talking with the cop outside, they talked as though they were equals. Maybe what I'd always seen as a weakness – this strange concept of drinking only from animals in order to retain your humanity – wasn't the crock of shit I'd always thought it to be?

Moving from place to place was losing its appeal for me. I thought I might be hankering for a place to finally call my own. I had a strange sense of belonging in my gut when I came here, to the Cullen house. I wasn't sure if it was the house, the people in it or what it represented. I just knew that chasing human prey wasn't the way forward for me. To have what they had things had to change for me. And that started with the woman sitting in the living room right now.

I stood at the foot of the stairs and roamed the room looking for her. She was so beautiful. Dark hair and big amber eyes. She'd been three spaces over from me during the fight and it wasn't until it was all over that I truly saw her. Hell, she'd been in the house with me for weeks and all I'd ever said to her so far was 'hi' when I'd arrived. I remembered her from the wedding and then again from the christening. I'd caught her looking at me more than once but I'd been to fucking busy flirting with Bella to get at Edward to do anything about it.

But now...well, now might be the time to put aside my jealousy and the ridiculous idea that Bella would ever look twice at me while Edward was around and take a chance with her.

I just needed a little shove. A sign. I got it.

Jonathon came to my side and slapped me on the shoulder. "She's been staring at you for twenty minutes. If you don't go talk to her I will and you know I have no intention of going vegetarian, so I'd probably screw with her and dump her." He kept walking and went up the stairs and I stared after him with my mouth hanging open.

What the fuck? Did everyone notice us staring at each other or something?

Then I had a kind of epiphany. I'd just fought the Romanians and won. Life was too short to fuck around and not take chances.

With a spring in my step I jumped off the stairs and strode to where she sat on the ottoman. I held out my hand for hers. She looked up and smiled. God she was utterly magnificent.

"Hi. I'm Randall. Want to take a run with me and teach me how to hunt animals?" I asked.

Her smile widened to show me perfect white teeth. "Hi. I'm Kate. I'd love to." She put her hand in mine and I felt an unfamiliar sting of excitement travel up my arm. She let me lead her to the back door.

**Sam Uley POV**

"If you'll allow it I'd like the pack to stay while you move through your rituals?" I asked.

Edward was already nodding. "Of course Sam, we want you all here. We don't have rituals as such, but we want you here while we say goodbye to our dead." He told me.

"I will speak to the tribunal but I want you there when we bury Brady."

"I'd be honoured. Let me know when and where, I'll be there." He told me with a hand to my shoulder. "Use this." He pushed his cell phone into my hand and I nodded.

It was obvious he'd read my thoughts, I still wasn't used to it. He moved away and I went out through the front door and into the driveway. I still felt uneasy standing on the gravel. Jacob had fallen here. I'd betrayed my Alpha here. Everything had changed here.

My Emily answered on the first ring. "What happened?" She shouted.

"Baby it's me. I'm fine." I sighed.

"Oh thank heavens, thank the gods, Sam, thank god." She was crying, I could hear it in her voice.

I took a few minutes to explain how we went, about Brady and about Jack and Paul and Seth. She was shocked and sad for Brady and his family and worried for the others too, but mostly she was as desperate to see me as I was to see her. I needed her. Needed her touch.

She agreed to come to the Cullen house and would bring any of the wives and girlfriends that wanted to come. I knew they'd be welcome but it was confirmed for me when I returned Edward's cell phone to him. He told me everyone was welcome and that they'd be well taken care of when they arrived. I'd had no doubt.

I went back through the archway and back into the dining room. The injured vampires had all healed by now. Their bodies simply let their missing limbs be reattached. It was freaky to see. Stone just absorbed stone and they were good as new. It wasn't quite so easy for wolves.

Jack was sleeping now, Leah at his side. She looked tired and ragged and in need of a bath, but she was still smiling. "He's much better. Listen." She told me as I stopped by her.

His breathing had eased, no longer rattling at each inhalation. The hole in his lung had closed over. He just needed to sleep and to eat when he woke, he'd be fine.

Carlisle was unwrapping Paul's leg and I stepped to his side to see how it was progressing. The swelling was already going down. He was covered in sweat as he fought the pain but even I could see that he was better than he had been. The gash across his face was gone, a feint pink line all that was left and even that would be gone by the time Rachel arrived with Emily later.

He brightened considerably at that news and I left him to return to his healing sleep.

Seth was still sleeping too. Nessa was curled into his side, her fingers pressed to his chin as if she was showing him something. He was snoring and she was snuffling, it was pretty cute.

Carlisle came and stood beside me as I watched them. "How is he?" I asked quietly. Harry and Sue still sat in chairs at his head. They too were watching him sleep.

Carlisle put his hand to Seth's head and then listened to his chest. "He'll need a lot of rest but he's healing well." He pointed to the feint marks on his shoulders and arms, the remnants of bruising, it was already fading.

He still smelled odd, still Seth in essence but it was tainted with another smell still. "How long until he smells like himself?" I asked.

"A few days. Until his body absorbs and exchanges all the transfused blood. He'll be fine, Sam." Carlisle smiled and I relaxed.

"And Nessa, is she alright?" I asked as I stared down at the little girl.

"Physically she's perfect." He told me and I understood his meaning completely.

Only time would tell how she was going to fair mentally. To have seen the things she'd seen today would take a toll.

I nodded to Harry and Sue and went out into the belly of the house to find the rest of my pack. Jared, Embry and Quil sat on the staircase, all together. I sat with them while we waited for our women to join us.

**Esme POV**

When the humans and wolves were taken care of I left my kitchen and went to find my husband.

He was struggling. Worry and guilt were etched onto his beautiful face. I stood in the archway to the dining room and watched him tend to his patients. It was the same as it was when he was at the hospital. No thought or care for himself, only total concentration for his patients.

He could heal their physical wounds and because they were wolves those would heal far faster than those he dealt with in humans, but he was powerless to heal their mental scars.

I waited until he'd checked on all three boys and when he had I moved into the room. He lifted his eyes to mine and his shoulders slumped. I moved a little closer and held my hand out towards him. I couldn't force him to come away and I shouldn't, but I knew he needed a few moments away from his responsibilities.

He warred with that for a few seconds and then he put his hand in mine. He was trembling. It was rare for Carlisle to be out of control emotionally. It frightened me. He put his hand deeper into mine and I closed my fingers around his. I turned and led him from the room. We went through the living room, past the wolves sitting on the staircase and up onto the first floor. I thought Carlisle expected me to lead him to his study because he tensed as we moved past its door. But I led on. I took him to our suite and closed the door quietly once he was inside with me.

His shoulders began to shake once we were completely alone. His normally self-contained, strong and controlled demeanour began to crumble as I towed him towards our bed. I threw the doors open and sat on the edge of the mattress. I pulled him to me and he lay down beside me, his head on my chest. I threaded my hands into his hair and waited patiently for his first sobs to come.

When they did I held him tightly.

I was grateful to hear Edward asking everyone to return to their conversations and to give us some privacy. The house soon refilled with chatter and as Carlisle's sobs abated and his lips found mine I was able to lose myself in his touch.

We'd survived but the cost was yet to be calculated.

**Peter POV**

Jasper was yet to return from hunting and Alice was still missing too. Carlisle had retreated to his rooms with Esme and the wolves wives and girlfriends had arrived.

There was little I could do for anyone. They'd all have to come to terms with what we'd done in their own time and in their own way. Some would rejoice, some would celebrate. Some would sink into depression and some would take their own lives. I'd seen it all before.

My Charlotte was doing well. I had no worry for her mental health, she'd lived through the Southern Wars with Jasper and I and had learned the art of war along with us. We'd killed no one today who didn't deserve it and I knew she knew that. The others did too, but their sense of morality was tinged with humanity where mine was not. For those of us who embraced what we were kill or be killed did actually mean just that. Today's war had been necessary and not just because our failure would've meant the end for us and for innocent children like Nessa and Seth, but also because the time had come for a new way of life for vampires.

We didn't need a ruling clan and as much as we'd moved away from them in the last two hundred years, their presence had meant we'd never really been free of them or their ideals.

Now we were free to move forward. I believed we still needed guidance, it would be ignorant and incredibly arrogant to think that we could exist unfettered, unobserved. We would descend into anarchy, chaos would rule and we'd fall into the ways of the past. The Southern Wars would seem like a weekend skirmish in comparison if we were left to our own devices. That said I wasn't of the opinion that we needed ruling. We needed access to information.

We lived forever, well, most of us would anyway. Today's war would pass into folklore if it wasn't documented properly. Urban legend would one day overtake fact and we'd doom another generation of vampires to repeating the mistake.

Today's losses had to mean something.

We were capable of change. Real change affected us permanently. So I knew that if the lessons learned this past few weeks could be retained and taught we'd avoid this happening again. Perhaps not forever, but on into the next century, I hoped.

I knew that the wolves had a tribunal, a group of older statesmen who held the history of the tribe in trust. They imparted that information and added their own wisdom borne from experience for the next generation of the tribe as needed. It worked well. They didn't repeat the mistakes of their past and they moved forward as a group.

I imagined an age for vampires where nobody would have to fear others of their own kind. They wouldn't need to travel halfway around the world just to find out if their child would survive into adulthood. I envisaged a time when the thoughts and opinions of covens all over the planet could he heard without prejudice. When I could make friends for myself with wolves and live by them without the fear that somewhere someone was plotting my demise because of my life choices. I hoped for an age where nobody held more power over another, where none coveted what another had, where we were all equals despite having – or not having in my case – a gift that could cause injury or death to another. Future vampires needed to know about gifts and what they meant. They needed to know how to create another and what it would mean. They needed to know our unwritten law that forbid us from turning a child. They would need to know that it was possible to live amongst humans as the Cullen's did. I might not choose that for myself but I could see the attraction and the merit in it.

I wanted what I knew Carlisle wanted. A peaceful life.

I hadn't talked to anyone else about the thoughts I was having but I knew that Edward had read them from me just now. He was staring at me and changing his weight from foot to foot the further into my inner monologue I went.

'When this is done I want you to lead us into an age of shared information, brother.' I told him silently and as his eyes met mine they widened. He tilted his head to the side and I wondered what he was thinking.

**Renesmee POV**

Sethy was still snoring when I woke up. His mommy and daddy smiled at me when I sat up. I liked them a lot. Sue was nice to me at the daycare and Harry always let me ride on his shoulders when I went to visit him at his house.

I sniffed my Seth. He still smelled a bit funny but he was definitely my Sethy. He was hot again too and he was breathing like he should. I put my ear onto his chest and listened. Yep, breathing properly again. He was a good boy. He'd promised not to leave me and he didn't.

I pushed my blankets off and jumped off the dining room table. Nana-Me wouldn't like us sleeping on it. She polished it every day after she changed the flowers in the vases. I hoped I wasn't going to get in trouble for being on the table. I think daddy put me on it and I didn't think Nana-Me would be cross with daddy. Not today.

I went into the living room and saw lots of people still there, but no dancing and no laughing. Everyone looked just as sad as they had this morning. Seth's big brother Sam was sitting with the other boys on the stairs, they looked sad too.

Nathaniel was sitting with Angelica on the sofa. He had his arm around her shoulders like my daddy did with mommy. Benjamin and Tia were hugging. Makenna had her head in Charles' lap. He was patting her hair because she was crying. My daddy was standing beside the kitchen counter talking with Liam and Garrett. I looked around to find my mommy. She was hugging Aunty Irina.

"Come little one." I heard Zaffy and found her sitting in Pa's armchair. She had her arms open for me so I ran to her and jumped up into her lap. She cuddled me tightly, like mommy did. I kissed her cheek and laid back on her.

"How come you're still sad Zaffy? Are the bad men coming back for me?" I asked her.

Everyone stopped talking then. They were all looking at me and I got a bit worried. I looked up to Zaffy and she had those sad eyes on again.

"No child, the bad men won't be coming for you again." She patted my cheek. "We are sad because some of our friends haven't come home with us today. They have gone on to their gods."

"Oh." I said. I thought about what she'd said. I knew that my friend Maria wasn't coming home today. I had seen her lying on the ground behind us. Her head wasn't where it should've been, she was dead. She'd gone to heaven. So had Brady. I knew I had to be brave still, mommy had told me that when she was helping Sethy, but I let a couple of my tears come out even though I knew Seth might be cross with me if I gave them to Zaffy and not him.

"Do you understand little one?" She asked me as she dried my tears with her thumb. "Some of our friends have left this world and gone on to the next. But don't cry precious, they will be with us forever. All we have to do is think of them and we'll be able to see them in our minds. Can you show me your friend Brady?" She asked and I nodded.

I put my fingers on her cheek and showed her Brady swimming with me at First Beach. Then I showed her Maria braiding my hair. I showed her Adam racing mommy at swimming in the river and Sima teaching me how to find her home land on daddy's globe.

"That's right, if you remember them this way they never truly die, see?" Zaffy asked me and I nodded. "Can you make Zafrina a promise?" She asked. I said I could. "Don't show anyone who wasn't there what you saw today little one. Keep it inside you. Keep it for yourself and remember that everything we've done was to protect you, but that it came at a terrible cost. Show only your memories of your friends. Keep those alive in your mind and show them often. Can you promise me that?"

"I promise Zaffy." I told her and she hugged me again.

"Good girl. Now, let's have some fun. I want you to show me your Grandpa Charlies moustache as a caterpillar."

I giggled and mommy did too. She smiled for the first time in a long time. I turned around to Zaffy and put my fingers on her cheek again. I had to wiggle my toes a little bit to make Pop's moustache change but I made it happen in my 'movie' just like Zaffy had taught me.

Daddy's laugh was loudest then. I knew he'd seen what I showed Zaffy because my brain tingled when he read from me. Just like I tingled when I read from him. He didn't know I could do that yet. Zaffy said I should make it a surprise.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you for readng. **

**The war will take it's toll on them all, but in very different ways. I don't forsee too much being the same for anyone really. Some will make plans, others will be happy to follow the lead of those close to them. **

**I'm working hard on the last few chapters, they were finished but I have some revision to make and some changes now that I've further fleshed out the next book. I'm also working on the side story, so can I please ask you to be a little bit patient as I get all three of them straight in my head. :)**

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	59. Chapter 59

Chapter 59 – You must be the change you want to see in the world – Gandhi

59.

**Zafrina POV**

The child would be alright. She had promised to keep her memories of today to herself as far as humans went and I felt sure she was quite able to manage them on her own, or with her family close to her.

I would miss her when I left. This was the longest we had been with others, even though it had been only a week so far. There were many things to do, many things to say before we could return to our homeland.

My tribe was restless, eager to be back in our own land, but we could not leave until our dead were honoured and their spirits released to the skies once again.

My tribeswomen were both seated on straight backed chairs in the eating area of the house. Kachiri kept a careful watch on my location, as always, but her attention had been captured by Zuhar. They sat speaking very lowly across the table as though they were the only two in the universe. It would not be long before Kachiri found her own path in this life. I would mourn the loss of her constant companionship but would also wish her well when she came to me to say she would be joining the Tongans. More than likely I would be returning to the jungle with just Senna at my side.

"They will make quite a pair." A voice spoke behind me. I turned and saw the blonde nomad I knew to be called Alistair. He looked like a Nordic god as he towered over where I sat. I did not like being stood over.

I tipped my head and studied Kachiri further. Her features had softened as she laughed at something the tattooed vampire said. "Yes, they will." I agreed.

"And for you, will you be returning home?" He asked, coming around in front of me and sitting on the edge of the low table there. Now we were crimson eye to crimson eye. This was a little better.

Why he wished to know I found curious and a little alarming. What did he want from me?

"Yes." I answered.

He began to laugh, a soft rumbling laugh that sounded very nice to my ears. "You are wary of me?" He asked. I nodded. "You don't like to be away from your home, correct?" He asked.

"No, I don't. I am safest there. Amongst my people and in my own territory. Where do you come from?" I asked him. He had a very nasal sound.

"Here and there. I've not been to the jungle before, is it very sunny there?" He asked.

Again I wondered why. "It is. But there is much shade to hide what I am. The nights are very dark and very quiet in the jungle." I told him warily.

Another laugh came then. Edward strode to my side. "Give the guy a break Zaffy," He laughed as he used Nessa's nickname for me. "He's trying to ask you out. And for Alistair that's a big leap. He's even more mistrusting than you are, if that's possible."

And then he kept right on going and on towards his mate.

I looked back to the blonde Alistair. I sat further forward in my seat and put my forearm along his. "I am brown, you are white, we couldn't be more different."

"We fought, we are alive, you don't trust me, I don't trust anyone, we couldn't be any more the same. Run with me?" He asked.

I was shocked. Could Edward be right? Should I run with this creature? Where would we run to? What would we find?

Perhaps I would travel again as a trio.

About one thing he was correct. We had fought and we had survived. Perhaps it was time to trust someone.

I stood and offered my hand to him. He looked at it for a long moment then put his hand in mine.

**Eleazar POV**

I settled Carmen into a small group of talking women then moved to the edge of the room. The entire group was evolving before my eyes. Becoming more cohesive, forming stronger bonds and sharing more of themselves now that they had faced a common adversary.

The one group that still felt as though they were aliens were the English. They stayed outside the house, preferring to congregate close to where we'd laid the bodies of our dead.

They'd come to Forks only to observe, to defend themselves verbally should they need to, and yet they too had suffered a loss. It had been Charles' choice to engage in the fight against Ariana, and it had been a grave mistake. One his coven was suffering through too.

Poor Rennie had lost his mate and it seemed as though he would much preferred to have joined her than to be here mourning her loss as he was.

It was very sad that there was no one here to mourn the loss of Eric. I would be sure to say a proper goodbye even though my knowledge of the man he'd been was limited.

I could hear Carlisle still sobbing into his wife's bosom and felt the loss of his respect and companionship acutely. I'd known Carlisle for three centuries and while I was much, much older than he was he had gone further in this life than I could ever hope to.

While I'd had no reservations about killing today I knew that he did. He'd feel this deeply, would hurt for a long time. I hoped he'd recover. This coven and our kind needed him.

Young Edward would be a fine leader, and I felt sure that very soon he would take on that role in a larger capacity, but he needed Carlisle's guidance as he moved through the next phases of his life too.

My own coven was growing. With the addition of Aro, who was still wary of me and was someone I was going to have to work very hard to earn the respect of, we numbered six. But I had seen Katie going off with Randall and guessed we'd soon be seven. The lovely Irina would find her mate one day, I had no doubt.

As I moved through the house I shook hands with a few, commiserated with others and spoke briefly with some. But it was to Edward's side I manoeuvred. When I got there and he turned his attention to me it was a scowl I saw on his normally serene face.

"Not now Eleazar." He growled softly.

I took a pace backward, not through fear but because I respected his space. "Then when?" I enquired.

"Just not now." He growled again and I moved away.

Carmen and I would not return to our home until I had made my peace with Edward and his mate and with Carlisle.

Marcus and Renata held my attention for a small while, but my thoughts remained with Edward. At some point he'd have to address the conflict between us and when he was ready I'd beg his forgiveness. I'd leave my fate in his hands.

The others may be beginning to think about what they would do now that the war was over, but for me it was only just beginning. Regaining lost trust and earning back the respect of your peers was a war in itself and for me that was just the start of my atonement.

**Seth POV**

I ached all over like I'd been hit by a truck.

I was sweating like a horse but felt cold. I hadn't felt cold since I'd started shaking the day Bella was changed. It was foreign and felt horrible.

I tried to move my arms and legs just to make sure they were all still there but they felt like lead. I had no energy at all. Nothing. I felt completely sapped.

I didn't open my eyes yet. I could hear and smell everyone around me so I knew I was at the Cullen's. I didn't want to have anyone hovering over me, or smothering me just yet, so I tried to lie still and assess the damage for myself.

I could still taste the bitterness of the venom in my mouth. I pushed my tongue to the roof and swallowed hard. It was almost gone. I could hear someone snoring beside me and guessed it was a wolf. Nobody else slept round here. I was under a blanket so I moved my fingers and toes a little, they worked perfectly.

I didn't know what the effect of having vampire venom in my system was going to be and wondered if anyone else did either. I knew it was toxic and usually fatal so I wondered how the hell I was still alive, let alone feeling as alright as I did. Sure, I felt like shit, but I was alive all the same, so that was pretty good.

I could smell Nessa. She was close by.

And then she was there, beside me, her hand to my cheek. She showed me myself on the lawn in my parents front yard. Then I saw that Bella was there, and Jasper too. Then Bella was biting me on the wrist. I didn't move though so I must have already been passed out, I sure didn't remember that!

Then Edward was there, telling her to stop. She ran off and he ran with me here.

Nessa showed me her being laid down beside me by Edward himself. I should open my eyes, get the inquisition over with. I was about to when Nessa kissed my cheek and whispered.

"Stay asleep Sethy. Daddy says if you sleep for a long, long time you'll be better. I need you better so you can take my tears."

I felt my chest expand with love for her and decided to stay 'asleep' a little bit longer. She'd need me when we both got up. I'd told her I'd take her tears and carry them around for her and she'd taken me literally, which was sweet. So now, when she was sad, she cried and I soaked up her tears. It was a good trade.

She curled up beside me and pulled the blanket over herself. She patted it on my stomach to make sure it was smooth and I was still covered. Then she put her tiny arm around my gut and hugged me. She was always doing stuff like that. Patting me and making sure I was okay, seeing if I had everything I'd need. Sometimes I felt guilty because it should be the other way around, me making sure she had what she needed. But she nearly always beat me to it.

She was exhausted too. When I heard her soft snuffle I opened my eyes. Waves of dizziness swam through my head. I tried to just lay there for a few minutes staring at the ceiling and covertly sniffing her scent. Nothing made me feel better, ever, than Nessa's smell. When the nausea had settled a bit I slid out from under her and met the gaze of her father.

"Hey." I whispered as I tucked the blanket back in around her.

He stepped forward and put a hand to my shoulder just as I stumbled. My head was spinning like a bitch. "You should've stayed lying down." He said quietly.

My mother was there then, at my side, crying quietly. "I'm okay mom." I told her.

"Go on up to our suite. I'll bring Nessa." Edward told me. Would he really let her sleep beside me again? "Go on." He told me.

He had to have read what I'd been thinking but he still wanted me to go up there. So I did. I didn't stop to talk to anyone though I did shake hands with my pack; they were sitting on the stairs with their women between their knees, as I went up.

I threw my stained clothes on the floor and slid into the bed just in my boxer shorts. I was fucking freezing but I'd soon warm up in the crisp cotton sheets and blankets. It was always like staying at a swanky hotel when I stayed here.

My head was swimming. I felt like I might throw up at any time. I wondered if I should just go and lay on the floor in the bathroom instead, just in case, when Edward came in with Nessa in his arms.

He laid her down on top of the covers. He went into her room and got her pink blanket and then covered her with it. He went into the bathroom and came back with a glass of water. He dropped two tablets into my palm and told me to take them with the water.

"They'll help with the headache and the aches and pains." He told me as I swallowed them.

"Thanks." I told him and lay back down.

He stood at the side of the bed and I wondered what it was that he wanted to say.

"You'll be fine, a few says Seth." He told me and I nodded my thanks for his letting me know. "I thought we'd lost you there for a bit." He continued. "She's going to need you to help her sort out all the things she doesn't understand."

"I know. I'll do my best." I told him.

"That's all I ask, son." He bent down then and put a hand onto my head. His hand was freezing. "Thank you for everything you did today Seth, I'm very proud of you."

He went to leave then but I called him back. "I'd do it all again to keep her safe." I told him.

He smiled, really smiled, for the first time in weeks. It looked good on him. "I know, that's why we love you so much. You should get as much rest now as you can. We'll talk in a few days when things settle down. Goodnight Seth. Sleep well, my son."

I wanted to call him dad but thought it would sound stupid, especially with my actual dad in the house. So instead I said 'goodnight dad' in my thoughts and hoped he was still listening. I did think of him as my dad now I realised, as I shuffled down the bed next to Nessa. I always asked him for advice, I never did anything with Nessa until I'd run it by him and he was teaching me almost everything I'd ever need to know. One day he really would be my father in law. I will have to tell him I love him at some point. He'd told me before, plenty, but I'd never said it to him. I'd told Bella, but never Edward, I hoped one day I would be brave enough to say it.

I cuddled up to Renesmee then and fell asleep with her scent in my nostrils.

**Edward POV**

I stood outside the door to our suite and smiled. He'd called me dad! He loved me! I was elated, so very, very happy I could hardly contain it.

Not only was he alive but he was going to be fine, Nessa was happy because he was okay and Seth had just called me dad. I wondered if this was how Charlie felt when I called him dad? I'd have to pay better attention to his thoughts next time I said it. Knowing my luck he probably still wanted me dead for taking his daughter from him.

I wanted to tell the whole world just how fucking lucky I was. I wanted to crow about my good fortune.

I wanted to run down the stairs, sweep my wife off her feet and lose myself in her body and soul.

I fingered her locket in my pocket and tried to settle myself. There was much to do, and even more to say, before the victory could be celebrated. As Jasper kept pointing out I had responsibilities to this group. I had to finish what I'd started before I could move on.

I settled a calmer look onto my face and went back down into the living room. I located Sam and asked if the wolves wanted to wait for their wounded to be up and about before Sam and I spoke to everyone as a group. He said he did. So I had a few more hours to just be with my family and friends as we were. It also gave me a few more hours to think about what I wanted to say to everyone. Right now I had no clue other than thank you.

My cell beeped that I had a message. I had hoped to hear from Rosie or Em by now, but it was Alice.

~We're coming back. I've got news of Maine. Carlisle will get the call in four minutes. Alice xx ~

It was time to tell the others. I was let into Carlisle's suite cautiously.

"What is it?"Carlisle asked.

I pulled the typed page of information from my jeans pocket and handed it over. I didn't want to speak about it openly until everyone knew, it would be disrespectful to Eric and it wouldn't be nice for anyone to gossip about it. So I'd put all the pertinent information onto a page for Carlisle.

He gasped when he read it but said nothing out loud.

'_I'll keep my cell handy. Tell the others.' _He nodded to me, folded the page into thirds and put it back in my hand. I'd been dismissed.

It wasn't lost on me that he couldn't meet my eyes.

**Carlisle POV**

Esme held me for hours. I'd sobbed and sobbed like a child. In fact, I didn't recall a time as a child that I had actually sobbed. Perhaps it was time.

I was happy to be alone with my wife inside our personal space. Our bed was my refuge. In it I could be who and what I really was. Esme knew the real me here. She knew my fears and my worries and what made me happy and what made me angry. Here, in our suite, Esme knew me as a man not as a vampire or a doctor. Not even as a father and grandfather. Outside these walls I had to be all those things in differing measures, inside them though I was just Carlisle Cullen and she was just Esme Cullen, my wife and partner.

The sun was going down before the first sounds came to us from downstairs about farewelling our dead. I knew it was necessary, for many reasons, but was loathe to leave the sanctuary that was our suite.

Esme, god bless her, never pressed me, never asked anything of me. She simply held me when I cried and loved me when I began to kiss her. I'd tried to hide my pain by losing myself in her physically and she'd let me, even though she knew I was barely capable of controlling myself.

I'd never been rough with her, I'd never shown anything other than the utmost respect for what and who she was. But this day I lost myself in her wholly. I took my pleasure and gave hardly a thought for hers. She gave me no indication that I'd let her down and for a few glorious moments, whilst I was still inside her, I didn't care. I was happy to forget for a few splendid seconds all that I had done this day and could just revel in the feel of her body against mine. But as I slipped from within her my thoughts returned to the battlefield and I was once again lost.

Again she held me, again she soothed me, and with no thought for herself or anyone else she held me against her and loved me. Despite what I was, what I'd become, she loved me.

I had never taken a life, never. Not in three hundred years had I used my strength to end another. I'd never plotted, never wished it, never planned it and never contemplated having to do it in anger.

Many times I'd thought I'd have to. Once when Bella had been hurt by Jacob I contemplated whether I could. When Bella and Renesmee were threatened years ago I'd wondered then if I could do it. If I'd stumbled upon that shed and James or Victoria had still been in it could I have ended them then? I'd never had to find out, thank heavens. They'd been long gone and I'd been able to assume my role as a medical man and had put it out of my mind.

Long ago I'd wondered if taking Edward's humanity meant I was a killer. In essence I supposed I was. I'd taken Esme's too, Rosie's and even Emmett's. Eventually I'd claimed Bella's. Perhaps in the truest sense I was nothing more than a killer with a conscience.

I suffered after each instance that had led to me changing my children. Edward called it depression, I called it unfulfilled reparation. There was nothing I could do to assuage what I'd done and there was nobody to beg forgiveness from. The god I'd known as a mortal man would shun the demon I had become. The monster that lived inside me and had claimed my humanity had separated me from my god at the time of my mortal death.

I still believed he existed, my faith had never wavered. But his faith in me as a man? That surely was lost the instant my heartbeat faltered.

At whose feet should I kneel to confess the sins of today?

Today I had slaughtered Vladimir with my own hands. I'd undone three hundred years of self control. I'd undermined three hundred years of resolve. I'd done my duty to my son, to his family and to the group as a whole and in the same instance I'd gone against everything I'd ever believed.

And yet Esme loved me. Edward loved me. Renesmee loved me.

And Rose and Emmett needed me to help them bring another life into this world. When my cell phone rang I leapt from the bed and tore it from my pants pocket. The news was not good. The girl was ill. She needed me. The baby needed me, my children needed me.

I'd put all else aside and do my duty to them once again.

But at some point in time I knew I'd have to pay the penance for today's sins.

**Bella POV**

Edward came down the stairs with a beatific smile on his lips for the first time in months. Whatever Seth or Nessa had been thinking it had made Edward happy. I was glad. He could do with a good dose of happy. It had been weeks since I'd seen that glimmer in his eyes.

After he'd spoken with Sam I went to him. I slid my hand into his as he came to the bottom stair. "I have so much to tell you." He whispered as he bent his lips to mine briefly.

I stared up into his eyes. "You do?" I asked, unsure what he meant.

He nodded and tugged me along behind him. Across the foyer and into the middle of the living room. He backed us up so we were facing the crowd, and a big crowd it was. Almost all the vampires we knew were gathered there. A few pairs had gone off alone and there were still the sentries at the pool house, but almost everyone was still there. Waiting for the right time to say their goodbyes to the dead.

"I need to tell you all something I learned yesterday. Alice is coming now and she may very well be able to tell us more by now, so I'll leave that part to her." He began and I was instantly intrigued.

This was what he and Alice had hidden from me yesterday. He looked grave. Not excited or particularly happy so I began to worry a little too.

I heard a cell phone ringing upstairs and Edward turned to face the first floor briefly. I heard Carlisle bark 'how is she' and my stomach clenched. Who was missing? I looked around and ticked off my family and closest friends. I knew that Alice was 'coming back' now from wherever it was she'd been, so it wasn't Alice who needed Carlisle. I couldn't see Kate but I'd heard she'd left with Randall earlier. With all the cousins accounted for I began listening for Rosie and Em. They were probably tucked up somewhere quiet enjoying each other. But I couldn't find their voices or their scents.

I clutched Edward's arm and whispered 'Rosie' just in time for Alice to come running into the room.

"Did you tell them yet?" She asked excitedly of Edward.

"No, I was just about to. I'll let you do the honours." He swept his hand across himself in a low bow and moved aside to let Alice have the floor.

She was beaming, really smiling, from ear to ear. She looked right at me as she spoke. "Eric had a human mate..."

**Esme POV**

I gasped in shock when I heard Alice announce that Eric had a human mate and that he'd left behind a child.

Carlisle was on the phone with Emmett, and judging from the tone of the conversation, things with Eric's mate were grim. I listened as Alice explained the hows and whys and then turned my attention back to my husband's conversation.

He'd changed three hundred and sixty degrees in the preceding two minutes. I watched him exchange his lost and broken man persona for that of doctor, father and sire. He was very good at that. Switching from what was needed by others to what was needed by him.

There could be no doubt as to his abilities as a doctor. There were certificates, awards and commendations lining the walls of his study to attest to that. Anyone who'd ever had him at their side while they dealt with injury or illness would testify to his skill, patience and manner.

He was a good father too, despite never having had biological children of his own. He was fair and a good listener and he was always careful to guide rather than impose his will on them. Long ago I asked him where he thought his parenting skills came from, his answer had surprised and shocked me.

He said his own father had been a very strict man. He had been a preacher and a very conservative one, even back then he was considered very right wing in his thinking and in his pulpit. Had his firmness only been in the discipline area Carlisle may have felt a stronger pull to follow him into the church, but it had not. His ideals and his morals were to be followed at all times, there was to be no free thinking in the Cullen household. The Carlisle I knew would've been crushed in that environment. He too could be quite conservative in his thoughts but he was never one to stifle free thought or investigation.

He told me that his father had ruled with an iron will and sometimes his stubbornness did not always lead him to make the right choices. Carlisle said that when faced with a dilemma he had no experience with, for example an issue with one of his children, he thought back on what his own father would've done and then went in the opposite direction himself. He said it wasn't a foolproof system but so far it had served him well. That surprised me because I had thought his answer would be something more practical. I thought perhaps he'd have studied parenting books, read up on how to deal with rebellious teenagers like Edward could sometimes be. I thought he'd do a course, take a class, and speak to experts. But he hadn't. He'd applied a simple theory. If he himself had been unhappy with the way his own father parented, then if he did the total opposite, he might do better with his own children.

His answer shocked me because I hated to think of my Carlisle as unhappy. It was true that I knew little about him from the time before he'd changed me, and that was by mutual agreement not suppression of information, but thinking of Carlisle as an unhappy child or youth hurt me badly.

Carlisle refused to speak of his mother and to this day I had no idea about the woman, not even a name. He kept no documents and there were no pictures of her. I had an image of a very soft woman, blonde and pale and slight, but it was a work of fiction and nothing borne from any fact. It was my image, not his.

So while Carlisle loved and respected his father he couldn't blindly follow his lead. He believed there was more for him than a life in the church, with only his father's congregation to attend to. He wanted more for himself.

Carlisle and Edward had come to blows so many times and I saw it as exactly the same situation. Edward loved and respected his father but he could no more follow his lead blindly than Carlisle could when he was a youth himself. What Carlisle saw as rebellion, or in the case of today's situation treason, Edward saw as striking out on his own. With a family of his own now Edward was stretching his wings, learning for himself. I hoped at some point they'd be able to accept in each other their differences.

Carlisle's interest in medicine led him to finding the answer to his thirst and it's what led us all to the way of life we had now. I loved and admired many of our guests but those who chose to take human life to exist would never truly be respected by me. Not when there was an alternative, a viable alternative. It wasn't without struggle, we all had cravings even now after decades of practise I still wanted human blood. I always would. But my sacrifice gave me so much more in return than the few minutes of pleasure a human body could give me.

In the beginning I'd been self destructive. I'd rebelled against what Carlisle was trying to teach me. I'd gone against Edward and Carlisle and had taken life after life as I searched for the answers to my internal questions. But slowly I came to realise that there was something and someone worth far more than the simple pleasure of human blood. Carlisle.

To have him for eternity I had to walk beside him, not behind him for he was not my leader, he was my equal. But he was also my sire. He hated thinking of himself that way when it came to me and I never, ever spoke that word about him. But he was, actually, my sire. For him I denied my thirst and in return he'd given me six beautiful children, a grandchild and a life of worth and plenty.

He assured me I deserved it all even though in the beginning I disappointed him so frequently. I spent a lot of years earning his trust and his respect again. It had all been worth it.

I wondered if Carlisle thought today had been worth it. For me it had been. I wanted this life, at any cost. I'd done what I had to do to keep my family safe. I'd killed again, but not a human life this time. This time I'd taken a body, nothing more. Its soul had long since been released from within it. Ariana had lost her soul when she agreed to do the Romanians dirty work and kill on their behalf. I had no qualms about my part in today's confrontation. I wondered if Carlisle did.

Thanks to the actions of the larger group today Carlisle and I would have time to sort that out.

But now we were faced with another crisis. Our children needed us to bring home safely another child. Another for me to love and to teach.

I waited patiently by my husband as he told our children how to help the poor girl who was about to make the ultimate sacrifice for her child. I waited until he'd ended the call and then I took him back into my arms.

"I need to make a few calls, darling." He whispered as he kissed my temple.

"Do what you need to do my love." I told him. "I'm here when you need me."

He pulled away slightly and smiled. "I know, it's what keeps me alive." He kissed me more deeply but it was brief.

I smiled. Another baby to love. I had things to do.

**Alice POV**

I was pleased that everyone now knew about Eric's situation. It had been so hard to keep it from Jaz and the others. It was always a much smaller burden to carry when I shared it with my husband.

He understood the need for secrecy though. He agreed that Edward and I had been right to keep it from them until after the fight. I was relieved that he thought so. So many times in our long history I'd kept things from him, thinking it was the right course of action, only for him to be hurt or angry with me after. But in this case he'd agreed.

I'd been relieved too when he said that we'd done the right thing by letting Rosie and Em go for the baby. Jasper had no desire to be anyone's father and I had no compunction to be anyone's mother. I adored Nessa and she was a big part of our lives, but it just wasn't something either of us wanted. I didn't remember my parents and Jasper had never spoken to me about his. It was as if our histories began the day we met in that diner. Everything before that was a blur, difficult to recall and felt completely unnecessary.

So whilst we were both eager to meet the newest member of our coven neither of us felt any desire to keep her for ourselves.

Edward was shifting his weight uneasily as we waited for Seth and Nessa to come back downstairs. Sam told me they were just waiting for the injured to be rested sufficiently so that both he and Edward could address the gathering. Then we'd send off our dead.

We spent a couple of hours just talking quietly within the groups. Benjamin and Tia were planning to leave at first light tomorrow. They were eager to be home to be with Amun. Benjamin had learned that although freedom from his sire was interesting it really wasn't for him. They'd return to Egypt and Amun and try to settle back into their lives as best they could.

I knew from Edward that the English would leave as soon as we'd completed our send off of their coven mate. They had no desire to stay any longer. They weren't angry or embittered, just deeply upset for the loss of their loved one. They wanted to go to their home and mourn in private. I could respect that.

I'd seen glimpses of Zafrina running with Alistair earlier and wondered whether the Amazon's would even return to their homeland. The closeness between Kachiri and Zuhar suggested some changes to both covens might be at hand.

So many things were different now. So many things would never revert to their pre-war state. So many lives had been touched by this. It was hard to consider that at some point we'd all have to address it ourselves. What we'd done individually as well as being a part of the larger army. Some might not ever recover from that, despite the freedoms our victory would now afford us.

When Carlisle and Esme came downstairs with a very shaky Seth and a very cranky Nessa I knew it was time to say goodbye to our fallen. Sam went to the dining room to rouse his wolves, Seth fell into line with them as we all filed outside into the yard.

Edward and Sam went into the pool house to meet with those who were guarding the bodies. Jasper and Peter asked everyone else to go to the side of house to collect firewood. Each took an armful of wood from the enormous stacks and brought them to the centre of the backyard. Jaz and Peter collected some kindling from the nearby forest and set about raising the fire.

All the gathered vampires and wolves took a place at the outer edge of the pyre. We were careful to leave a big enough ring between us and the flames. Makenna was particularly wary, and rightly so, she was lucky to still be here.

By the time the smoke began to billow from the centre of the pyre Edward and Sam were emerging from the pool house. They walked with bowed heads and were followed by Olivia, Rennie, Susan then Rau. They each held a tightly wrapped parcel the same shape and size as a body.

At the edge of the circle we'd made around the pyre stood the humans and hybrids. Angelica was crying quietly. Renee stood beside her and wept into Charlie's hanky.

When the makeshift procession got to the edge of our circle Carlisle and Esme stepped aside and made a space for them to file through.

Sam spoke quietly and respectfully. Wishing the souls of the departed gods speed on their journey and giving each of the covens who'd suffered a loss his and his packs best wishes.

The entire circle stilled and quieted when it came time for my brother to speak. His role as leader was, it seemed, far from over.

**Edward POV**

"Nothing can be said to ease the pain of loss. Nothing can be done to return to us what we have lost today. Nothing can erase the hollow we'll all feel when we are together once again and miss the presence of the fallen." I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself to say the rest.

Bella was holding Nessa's hand who in turn had hers in Seth's. He shook with cold despite the heat of the day and the fire. He was far from well, yet. Nessa was trying so hard to be brave but she cried throughout.

"As we farewell those we love spare a thought for those of us who will make the trek home alone or with a hole left where their loved one should reside. Try to remember why they fell, what they were fighting for and know that it could quite easily have been you suffering as they suffer now. The bodies of those who attempted to take our freedom from us have been committed to the ground in disgrace. The bodies of our fallen will now be committed to it in honour." I'd gotten through it but I felt so shaky, so sorry for what had happened.

I turned to Olivia and nodded. She stepped forward and placed Charles' body onto the pyre. She whispered her love to her mate and stepped back into the circle to join her remaining coven mates. It tore at my gut to think of her alone now. I'd never survive if it was me.

Rennie placed the body of his wife onto the pyre without a word. He'd said his goodbyes on the battlefield. I looked to Alice as he stepped back into his place in the circle. She'd been right there when Maria had fallen at the hands of Adrian, in fact she'd hunted Adrian down and finished him herself because of his actions. She stood with her hand in Jasper's, her thoughts were only for Rennie.

Rau began to chant religious blessings in Malay as he placed the body of Sima onto the fire. He bowed, hands clasped in the traditional manner, and kept his eyes closed as he slipped back into the circle. It would be particularly hard for him to come to terms with the loss of his coven mate as they were the last two of their kind in their area. It would be a lonely existence until he could 'make' another companion, as he put it in his mind.

Susan stepped forward with Eric's body. She'd volunteered to guard it and now she brought him forth onto the pyre. All thoughts turned to his mate and his child and the tragedy they were suffering through.

When Susan moved to join Holly in the circle I stepped forward again.

"As our loved ones leave us a new life is just beginning in Maine. I hope you'll all come back and meet her when the time is right." I left it there, there was nothing more to say and nothing would ease the pain of the losses anyway.

I went and stood next to Bella and took her hand in mine. Sam moved away towards his Emily who held their little Judd in her arms.

We stayed in our circle for a long time and watched the flames. The purplish smoke seemed to give everyone the chance to say their peace as the bodies of those we'd known and loved were turned to ash. Silent prayers, goodbyes and wishes for the future filled the minds of those around me.

'_The men would like a moment of your time, Edward.'_

I knew who the mental voice belonged to and I knew what he wanted to talk to me about, I just didn't want to hear it.

As the circle began to disperse I kissed Nessa on her cheek and Bella at her temple. "You go on inside, love. Some of the men would like a word, we might run a little. Alright?" I asked her.

She tilted her head to the side as if she was contemplating something about what I'd just said but eventually she nodded, returned my kiss and took Seth and Nessa inside.

I stayed where I was. He'd come to me, of that I had no doubt.

"Edward, lets run, mate." Randall said as he came to my side.

I looked past him and saw a very long line of men. Every thought was the same. The future was going to be very different.

"Let's." I said as I tore off towards the jetty.

* * *

**A/N: This concludes the points of view of those present during the war. I hope you've enjoyed them, some were rather difficult to write. **

**There are only a couple of chapters left now. I will be sorry to see this one end, it's been very demanding but also a lot of fun to watch it evolve. **

**If you found something of interest in this chapter please review and let me know, I'd love to hear what you thought of the new pairings. **

**Again, if you hated it and wish to put a Voodoo curse on me please review and I will send you my details so you don't poke some poor unfortunate being who is unworthy of your Fanfiction wrath. :D**


	60. Chapter 60

Chapter 60 – The Rise and Rise of Edward Cullen

60.

**BPOV**

Harry and Sue took Seth home with them when the pack left. Promises for us to visit soon and for Nessa to appear before the tribunal were made in the driveway.

Nessa was sad and worried to be apart from Seth so soon after the fighting, but I convinced her that he needed to sleep in his own bed and eat his mother's food so he could get better faster. She still wasn't happy but I knew she was exhausted herself, and once she was in her own bed she wouldn't give Seth another thought until morning.

She took particular care to say a special goodnight to both Benjamin and Tia who would be gone before we arrived back at the big house in the morning. She said a very polite goodnight to the English and then I took her up to her bed in our suite.

Viktor was sitting watching Hawaii Five-O reruns on our television. I felt so sorry for him but there was nothing I could do for him either.

I tucked Nessa into her little bed, told her I loved her and left her to sleep. I waited outside her door to make sure she was alright. She slipped into sleep easily and I hoped she would rest easy and not suffer any ill effects or nightmares from today's ordeal.

I wished Edward was beside me, he'd be able to tell me what she was dreaming of. I could find out for myself by touching her hand didn't want to wake her in the process.

When I was satisfied she was asleep I went back downstairs. There were female vampires everywhere but all the men had gone running with Edward. I figured it was some sort of demob situation, a sort of wind down after a fight thing between men.

There were thirty-two women in the dining room now. Rosie was the only one missing besides poor Maria and Sima. Eighteen sat in chairs framing the table, the others stood here and there around the room. It was loud and the conversations were varied. Esme caught my eye as I came into the room further. She put her hand to her heart and closed her eyes. I did the same and moved towards where she sat.

I stood behind her and put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. She covered my hand with hers and continued her discussion about the Denali house with Mary and Beatriz.

Alice was telling Susan, Siobhan and Renata about the school and they were listening with rapt enthusiasm. I'd not given the school a thought all day. We were free to open it now. Alice didn't even know that we had an opening date, at least I didn't think she did.

I wondered what having a new baby around would mean for Rosie. Would she be able to work? Would Emmett want to teach still? Would Rosie want to go back to the garage? We still hadn't finished building the school and there were teachers we still needed to source, classes we could fill now and we were still to finalize the boundaries and rules that would govern the school once we opened. Having a new baby around might change some of that, especially for Em.

"Stop frowning woman." Alice giggled as she came to stand beside me.

I laughed lightly. "I was thinking about the school. There's so much left to do."

"Yep. There is. You've got five months to do it all, you'll be fine." She winked.

So she did know. She had seen something. "Nothing gets by you, does it?" I joked.

"Not really, no. I just have to be far enough away from your offspring so I can see it." She nudged me in the ribs and I cringed like I was supposed to.

"There'll be two of them soon, that should mess with you nicely." I countered.

"Maybe." She said cryptically. "We'll see." Then she skipped off to the other side of the room, leaving me to wonder – and worry – about what she meant.

**EPOV**

The men ran west, flanking me on either side in equal groups. Coven ran with coven as though it was a planned formation. I listened to the thoughts of the few beside me and was stunned to learn that it was.

They'd planned this, long before the fight too. In the hours when I wasn't at the big house they'd formed this intention. At fight training and at night in hotel rooms and rented houses they met to discuss what they wanted after the fight. They'd also kept it from me. I was impressed.

Randall seemed to be the leader of the group and he ran beside me. With his attention diverted from my wife to Kate he was a lot nicer to be near. His thoughts were also more centred around normal things, not continually baiting me with regard to Bella's considerable charms. If he remained this focused I could be content to be near him long term, if he did indeed intend to join the Denali clan in Alaska.

Cutting through the forest I began to see where we were headed. My school.

There wouldn't be anyone there, it was late on Sunday evening so the grounds would be empty, but it was still a risk for all of us to be there. It was a risk they were willing to take. After today I guessed that all sorts of risks would be taken from now on. Life, or as close to living as we could get, was worth the risks again now.

Coming to the back of the playing fields Jasper came to the front of the group and ran beside me the last few hundred yards. "We need a place to talk that's private and secure Ed, we thought the auditorium." He didn't exactly pose it as a question but I took it that he was asking permission to use my space.

"Sure." I told him and led the way through the buildings.

I'd listen to their plan but had no intention of going along with it as it stood. I wasn't anti 'the big plan' but I wasn't totally sold on it either. I'd let them go through with their speeches though, so many of them had their heart set on it and I owed it to them to at least listen.

I had no keys on my person so I busted the lock on the small stage door at the back of the auditorium. I'd come back tomorrow and fix it myself. I went into the tiny hallway and flicked on the lights then held the door open until the last man was through. They filed into the rows of seats and took up a fairly random seating arrangement. They weren't in coven order or even friend with friend, they just sat where they could in uneven rows.

"Hit the stage lights Ed." Peter called from the third row.

I huffed but did as I was asked. "Where do I need to be?" I laughed.

"Front row, centre." Jaz called.

I took the seat and waited. This position put everyone behind me, I couldn't meet the eyes of anyone. I knew it would be Randall who took to the stage first because he was already running over his speech in his mind as he walked to the centre of the floor.

"I'm not the boss of this. Just thought I should start by saying that. We just had this idea and I got roped into being the one to tell you about it, okay?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Fair enough." I laughed in response.

He shuffled on his feet as his nerves built. It was about this time he began cursing Jasper and Peter who were the ones to talk him into being spokesperson.

"So, like I said, we've had this idea. The girls don't know about it but Jasper is pretty sure Alice will see this tonight, so it won't be long before they do. They get a say, of course, but we wanted to put this to you before we asked them. If you don't want to do it then there's no need to tell them." He scrubbed at the back of his neck and rambled.

"Get on with it." I growled impatiently.

"Hold your horses Ed, this is serious." He growled back and I stiffened. It wasn't like him to get angry, I'd never seen him lose his temper or become so defensive so quickly.

I resolved to listen to what he wanted to say. If it meant that much to him I owed it to him to listen. "Sorry, go on." I told him.

He pulled a sheaf of folded papers from his jeans pocket and opened them out. He read for a few seconds then began to speak.

"With the Romanians gone we basically want to form a council. Each vampire can decide for themselves if they want to take part, we don't want it to be compulsory. But those who join have to agree to take an active part, they can't just go along for the ride." He said seriously. "So it would sort of work like this. This is just a rough draft so don't pick it to pieces too badly. We want you to head it. But before you say no let me tell you a bit about what we want. You as head, like I said, and six councillors under you at all times. You'd take the first turn at being the head of the council but it would only last ten years, which is nothing to us hey?" He laughed.

"I guess not. Go on." I told him. They'd put a lot of thought into this. They'd worked hard to work out the kinks so that I'd at least consider it. Every mind in the auditorium was poised to refute any and all problems I saw with the plan.

"So the six councillors would get five years at a sitting then they'd have to swap out with whoever was next. If you join you agree to take a turn as a councillor at some point, no exceptions. That way everyone gets a say and nobody can have more voting power than anyone else by staying for a longer term. We don't want to have to nominate anyone or hold elections, just everyone will take a turn. You with me so far?"He asked tentatively.

"Keep going." I told him as I moved forward in my seat and put my chin into my hands. They'd worked hard on this and it was fascinating.

"So, that would make seven on the council at any one time. That makes it easy for a majority ruling for anything that needs deciding. But you, as head of the council, only get a vote if the councillors can't agree, if it's hung you decide. We don't want the head of the council to have any more power than anyone else, not veto rights or anything, just able to be the one to break a deadlock. Less pressure that way, less chance for corruption too. As head honcho you'd be a sort of administrator for the council itself. The face of it, if you want to call it that." He squinted at me through the harsh lights. "Now here's where it gets tricky. I'm not an expert on this part so feel free to ask questions Eddie."

"For a start don't fucking call me Eddie." I chuckled darkly. "Who is the expert then?" I asked.

"Dunno mate." Randall laughed. "They all know something." He waved behind me to the other vampires present and I took that to mean just what it had meant when we'd formed the war map. Everyone had something to offer by way of expertise. Singly that skill or knowledge might not mean much, but within the group as a whole it could be vital.

I was impressed. "Makes sense, keep going." I told him.

"We don't want to be governed, we aren't stupid, well most of us aren't." He laughed and the others twittered. "We want access to information. We don't need rules because we all live differently even though we are basically the same, so rules don't work. What we want is a central hub of info. A place to come to if we want to know something. Like when you and Bella found out you were having a baby. All that panic and bullshit you went through just to find out if the kid was gonna be alright. And now with Eric's kid, could've been avoided if someone wrote some of their shit down." He said it matter of factly, and in crude language, but I had to agree.

"Carlisle has made copious notes and will make them available to anyone who wants them. Why do we need a council then?" I threw the spanner into the works to see how they responded.

Liam answered for them. I turned while he spoke. "We know that Carlisle is compiling that document, and it will help, but we're talking about something more permanent. Something for everyone to access if they need it. I don't doubt Carlisle would make it available, please don't think that, but we want a sort of public bank of information for all of us to use." Having said his peace he sat back down.

Nathaniel rose from his seat then. "You were so frightened when you came to meet me. I remember it well. If you had a file you could read, get information from, instead of having to travel to Italy, would you have read that first?" He asked.

"Of course." I told him honestly.

He smiled having made his point. "Me too." He agreed. "Now, if every time someone like me is born more information is added to that file, and its kept in a central location that everyone of us knows about, nobody need be scared again." He returned to his seat happy that he'd made me understand.

He had. I nodded in agreement and turned back to face Randall. But before he could continue Demetri was on his feet and speaking, so I turned back around to face him.

"There has to be some information about turning someone also. It is dangerous to be doing it, but bigger dangerous when we don't know what to do. I got lucky with Sveta, but could easily have been killing her." Having said what he'd intended he sat back down.

Randall consulted his papers and continued, "We want other banks of info too. Legal information like licenses and deeds and property information. We want to make safe houses and places where nomads can stop in case of crisis. We want to make a bank of travel information. Identity documents and visas, passports and who to go to in certain cities when we need those documents made. Hell what we really need is a bribery fund for when we're travelling!" he laughed.

I had to admit that would come in pretty handy so I laughed too. "I can see the merit in that." I agreed. "Anything else?" I asked knowing there was plenty.

"Sure. A bank of medical information would be useful, especially for the hybrids. I hate that word, maybe the council's first vote should be what to call you buggers Nat?" He laughed.

"As long as you don't call me Nat I don't care what you come up with." Nathaniel laughed good naturedly.

Randall tipped an imaginary hat in agreement and went on. "What we need most is a gift registry. And I'm not talking about putting our names down at Tiffany's either. Your war map was the closest thing we've ever had to a list of who can do what Eddie. We need to know who can do what in case we need specialist help for something, just like you did today." His voice softened as he thought about the war map.

Everyone's thoughts turned to Eric and his mate after running over their individual battles today. It would take a long time for these memories to fade, if ever. "Alright, I can see the benefits of all this but has anyone thought about how and where and when?" I asked to get the meeting back on track.

Eleazar stood then. I heard his thoughts and prepared for my anger to rise. I turned when Randall waved behind me to get me to focus on where Eleazar stood.

"We have thought of all those things. Apart from banks of information we want to form an actual bank. New members to our way of life often bring nothing with them from their human lives. As you well know Edward, men – and women - turned young have no time to amass a fortune from which to sustain themselves in this life. We want to form a fund to help them. But not just new members, we want to help any one of us who needs it. The council could vote on who gets what, and under what hardship rules, but essentially every member of the group would contribute – unless the council deems them unable to of course – and everyone in the group would have access to the funds in times of hardship. The council members could administer the fund and dole the funds out to those in need. We could use part of the fund for safe houses, or game parks in certain areas for those of us who find it difficult to hunt in populated areas. " He had finished speaking but kept to his feet knowing I'd have questions.

"And who would determine how much was paid by whom? Those of us who have much more than others, would we be required to pay more into the fund?" I asked hoping he'd say yes so I could spring my trap.

"No. That would breed corruption. Equal members contribute equal shares. For instance, if I was to contribute one dollar and you contributed two that would give you more say than I had, and that would not be fair. We each put in one and a half dollars and have an equal vote and then the fund has the same amount as it would have had you contributed more." He said, and then sat.

I smiled and nodded. "Good." I turned back to Randall. "Anything else?"

Now it was his turn to smile. "Yeah, just one more thing." He looked over the assembled crowd before speaking again. "We want to do it here. At the school. Before you arc up and say no listen to the reasons, please." He put his hands up to stop me in case I wanted to protest, I did not so he continued. "It's safe here, you'd not let anything happen to the information, we know that. It's big enough to house a council now and then, maybe once or twice a year at most. It's close to the wolves, and we know you're going to want to include them in some way, and before you ask we're onboard with that too. Nowhere in the world is going to be central because the council will be changing all the time, so here is as good a place as any, continent wise. But the biggest reason for doing it here is because we know you'll turn down the job of being the first head if we don't do it here. This place will be up and running in a few months and you'll need to be close by, we get that. What do you reckon?" He asked.

I sat for a few minutes and mulled it all over. I could see the benefits but didn't really want to be the head of anything other than my school. I wouldn't mind taking a turn as a councillor at some point in the future though.

"Why me?" I asked.

"Because I want you to do it, son." Carlisle said as he got to his feet.

I turned then, shocked. "You do?" I asked.

"I do." He moved down the row he was in and came to the front of the stage. He leapt up onto it and stood beside Randall. "I was incapable of leading you all today, but you, son, were not. You've proved to us all over the past years and months what a great leader you can be. You're fair and generous but most of all you're honest." He quieted while the gathered crowd mumbled their agreement. "Edward, you never once hid the fact that you were scared. You didn't lead through pig headedness or with an iron fist. You gave everyone choices and asked them to do what was best for them. That's what this council needs. A firm hand that guides, not dictates. We are all still here because of the way you handled the fight. Lead us again, son."

He jumped down from the stage and stood before me. I stood too and looked into his eyes. His thoughts were only for the good of the group. I nodded once and put my hand out for his. He pushed it aside and hugged me tightly to him. He clapped me on the back and told me silently that I was making the right decision. He let me go and returned to his row and seat.

I turned and faced them then, my peers. My family and my friends. For a change I didn't know what to say. So I said the most honest thing I could tell them, "I'll do my best."

The whole auditorium erupted with cheers then.

**BPOV**

Edward was smiling and joking with Randall as they came through the trees by the river. A stranger thing I'd never seen. Edward and Randall laughing. Something was wrong, very wrong.

I went to the decking to greet them and Edward ran right to me. He kissed me hard on the lips and said we needed to talk. I said okay and expected him to lead me further out into the yard. Instead he led me inside and sat me on the sofa. He called for all the ladies to please join us in the living room and pretty soon the place was packed to the gills with vampires. When everyone was present and accounted for Edward began to tell us about an idea the men had had over the past few weeks.

I was stunned. I shouldn't have been because Edward was going to make an excellent head of the council, but I was stunned that he'd agreed. Someone must have done some pretty fast and impressive talking to get him to go along with it.

It just wasn't like Edward to be party to something as big as this. Apart from planning his war he'd shunned groups and committees before. Even when he'd had to endure high school over and over he'd stayed well clear of things like this. Even the debate team was too uncomfortable for him.

As I watched him explaining the ins and outs of how the council would work for the benefit of the ladies I notice the changes in him. He stood taller and while he'd always been self confident he seemed older, wiser now than he ever had before. Gone was the boyish demeanour and in its stead was the characteristics of a leader.

My husband was glorious. My husband was a leader of men. My husband was mine.

I growled involuntarily and all eyes turned to me. "Sorry." I whispered. Edward smirked, probably guessing what I was thinking, or close enough anyway.

Alice sidled over to me and asked what the problem was. "Possession." I said cryptically.

She screwed up her eyes but said nothing. I mouthed 'mine' to Edward and watched his glorious face as he returned the sentiment.

He went back to explaining the finer points of the 'bank of information' to Ivana and I watched on as his enthusiasm grew and grew.

Nothing was perfect but things were certainly looking brighter than they had for the past month. We were alive. Nessa and Seth were safe. Our school would open with us at the helm and Edward would also lead his council.

Em and Rosie would bring home their baby and I could begin teaching.

I saw Abel and Senna slip from the room and go towards the river hand in hand. No, things would never be quite the same again, but sometimes that could be a good thing.

Edward came to me then and took my hand in his. "Let's take our daughter home Isabella." He whispered as he kissed my fingers.

"Yes." I whispered in return. "Good night everyone. I love you all." I told them when Edward returned to the foot of the stairs with our sleeping daughter in his arms.

Quiet goodnights were called to us as we slipped out the backdoor and began the walk home. Nessa looked like a dead weight in Edward's arms. She flopped over his shoulder but stayed asleep the whole way.

He put her into her bed and I smoothed the covers and he smoothed her curls. Her little rosebud lips pursed as she shifted down into the bed further. Normally I would ask Edward what she was dreaming about, but tonight I thought it could quite possibly be about something she'd seen in the clearing and I couldn't face the consequences of that just yet, so I stayed quiet.

He slid his hand into mine and pulled me from the room. We walked quietly down the hall and into our bedroom. I never thought I'd be here with him ever again and sighed in contentment when he turned me in his arms and kissed my shoulder.

"I love you Bella." He murmured against my skin.

I reached behind him and ran my fingers through the hair at the back of his neck. "I love you too Edward, so very much." I closed my eyes as he began to trail kisses up my throat and into my ear.

"I have something for you." He breathed against my skin.

I thought I could feel what he wanted to give me up against my hip but thought better of making a joke, instead I nodded a little to let him know I was listening.

He licked his icy venom up the shell of my ear and then blew his breath on it, making me shiver. He dropped one hand from my waist and fished in his jeans pocket. Without taking his lips from me he grabbed for my hand and put my locket into the palm.

I sighed in relief. "Thank you." I whispered.

"Thank you." He replied.

I let him walk me backwards and when he snaked a hand around my body to hold me still I melted against him as we fell to the mattress of our bed.

"Mine." He growled into my waiting lips.

"Mine." I agreed just before he devoured my mouth with his.

~~~~000~~~~

The Egyptians were long gone by the time we made it to the big house the following morning. We only just got there in time to say goodbye to the departing Russians. An hour after they had disappeared down the driveway the Asians announced they too would be leaving. Rau was eager to get home, his grief at losing his mate was evident on his face as he said his goodbyes.

I didn't miss the pointed way he told Edward goodbye. I too had said a very telling goodbye to him a few years ago, the day I'd left him behind and had run away with Nessa. I hoped Rau wasn't saying a final goodbye but understood if he was. Having to face eternity without Edward was too much for me to contemplate, I could only imagine what it felt like for Rau who'd spent four hundred years with Sima.

The Germans too thought it best that they head home as soon as possible. The loss of Maria had hit them all hard. Rennie seemed lost, unable to make decisions for himself as he stood in the driveway. Dieter had to actually help his coven mate into the rental car before they could leave. Rennie slumped in the backseat like a little boy on his way to boarding school from which he knew he would not return. Anna sat with him, his hand clutched in hers, and my gut clenched for their loss.

So it was a much smaller group in the house for a few days after those first few departures. The Denali girls had no intention of leaving just yet and had moved into the guest room when my parents had vacated it on Monday evening to return to their own home. My mother had held me tightly for much longer than she normally would and I understood her relief.

We spent Tuesday in the pool house, almost all day too. Nessa was allowed to swim and play for as long as she wanted to. We were all eager to spend time with her, just happy that we still could. I couldn't bear to be apart from her for too long, I needed to be able to see her and touch her whenever my need became too much. None of us wanted to relinquish her.

Esme in particular stayed close to her, and to Edward and I. It was as though she needed to be near us as much as we needed tethering to Nessa. With Rosie and Emmett away we felt incomplete as a family and I knew that Esme would be feeling that acutely. She'd need all her 'children' near her for now just as I needed Nessa and Seth near me.

When Irina had asked if Nessa was looking forward to going back to school the mere mention of it made me feel ill. I ran from the pool house and into the yard and had to hold myself up using the edge of the house as I retched into Esme's garden bed. Edward was at my side in an instant, shouting for me to tell him what was wrong.

When I'd finished coughing up nothing at all I wiped the pooled venom from my mouth and threw myself into his arms. "I can't part with her yet." I sobbed.

He sighed in relief, I think, and held me tightly. He stroked my hair and let me cry. "It's alright love, shhh, it's alright. I understand, truly I do." He crooned into my hair as he rocked me back and forth to soothe me.

I nodded against his chest. We stood like that for a long, long time that afternoon. Nessa, for her part, took no notice. She simply went about her day as if nothing had happened. Perhaps she was used to her mother turning into a crazy woman over stupid things? Maybe she just understood far more than we gave her credit for?

**EPOV**

I understood Bella's reluctance to send Nessa back to school so soon. I might think it was what was best for my daughter but it wasn't what Bella needed. I could keep Nessa up to date with her lessons until Bella was feeling better about the few hours a day she'd need to be apart from our daughter.

Thankfully Nessa continued her swim while I comforted her mother outside. Bella was calmer and not sobbing so I allowed myself a quick delve into my daughters thoughts before suggesting that her mother return to the pool house.

Curiously the little girl was thinking about _my _thoughts.

'_I'll stay home daddy, you can teach me for a while until mommy is feeling better.' _She told me silently.

I thought back over the few words I'd shared with Bella just now. I hadn't said anything out loud about Bella not feeling well and I certainly hadn't said anything about tutoring Nessa myself.

I decided to try a small experiment.

While thinking 'I should keep Bella away from Nessa for a few hours and let her get used to being apart again' I said "Come back to the pool house, spend some time with her." Out loud to Bella.

Instantly Nessa's thoughts reached me. _'Don't take mommy away, I don't want to be away from her daddy!'_

Holy shit! Nessa can read me!

I was shaking and Bella lifted frightened eyes to mine as she stepped out of our embrace. "What is it?" She asked.

But I was laughing my head off. "Oh my god. She's a little witch!" I shouted at nobody in particular. "I can't believe it, I can't believe it."

Bella was trembling now. "What is it Edward? Who's a witch?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed.

I put my hands to her face and kissed her hard on the lips. "Your daughter, my love. She's a little witch." I laughed. "Come, let me show you."

I tugged her hand and led her back to the pool house. We stood at the edge of the pool and I called for Nessa to come to the edge. I knelt down to speak with her. She was smiling widely already thinking about the 'tingling' in her head as she read from me and I read from her.

"What's going on you two?" Bella said with a huff.

I winked at Nessa and 'told' her silently that we had a secret. She 'told' me that we did and that it was Zaffy who had taught her to 'find' my tingles amongst all the noises she could hear. I asked her if she could hear me all the time but instead of answering aloud she shook her head.

'_Not all the time. Only when I let the tingles in. Zaffy said my gift was better than yours because I can turn you off if I don't want to talk to you.' _She giggled.

I was astounded. Her gift was evolving as she grew. It was unheard of. "Does it work with anyone else Nessa?" I asked out loud to prevent Bella from losing her temper at being left out.

Nessa shrugged and 'told' me she didn't know yet. Zaffy had only got her to practise with my tingles so far.

Bella was shifting from foot to foot as I talked silently with my daughter. I reached down and helped her scramble up and out of the pool. 'Would you like to tell mommy?' I asked Nessa who was nodding eagerly.

Nessa reached for Bella's hand and smiled tentatively at her mother. "Mommy, please don't be cross, but I got daddy's gift, not yours." Her little face clouded over and I sighed.

I swooped down and picked her up and hugged her tightly even though she was soaking wet. "Don't be sad little one, mommy won't be cross with you sweetheart." I told her. Bella was still gaping in shock, not really understanding what the hell we were on about. "She can read me, love. That's all. She's worried you'll be upset that she got something from me and not you, she doesn't realise that she has inherited a part of you too." I laughed.

It was Nessa's turn to gasp then. She pushed herself away from me and stared into my eyes. _'I got something from mommy too?_' She asked silently.

"Out loud please Nessa, mommy needs to hear this part." I told her and she nodded.

She turned in my arms and faced Bella better. "I got something from you too mommy?" She asked again.

Bella hadn't said anything yet so I gave her a moment to take in what I was trying to explain to her. I wondered if she could work out for herself what part of Nessa's gifts came from her and not me.

All around us the others were whispering and speculating about what they were hearing and seeing. Everyone except Zafrina who was gloating internally about having discovered Nessa's gifts herself.

"She can read you?" Bella asked cautiously. I nodded. "And you can read her still, right?" She asked and I nodded again. "Can you read me little one?" she asked Nessa.

Nessa shrugged a little. "I don't know yet. Zaffy said I should let daddy's tingles in first and if that worked I could try other people too."

Bella wouldn't understand the significance of tingles so I jumped in before she could ask. "When I'm reading from Nessa's mind she feels it as a small tingle in her brain. She can tell when she's being read by me. And when she's reading from me she feels it too. She can choose to read or be read Bella, she'll have a choice, she won't have to listen to everyone all the time like me." I beamed at her, knowing she'd realise how significant that was going to be for our daughter.

Slowly Bella began to smile and everyone around us sighed in relief at the news. Nessa wouldn't have to suffer the internal torment I did whenever she was in company.

"But that's nothing to do with me Edward." Bella said sadly.

This time I could smile without reserve. "You're wrong darling." I told her as I shifted Nessa to my other hip and took Bella's hand. I stroked her fingers with my thumb and revelled in the familiar sting. "It's a part of your shield that lets her choose." I let that sink in and then I turned and searched for our resident traitor. "That's right, isn't it Eleazar?" I asked.

He was smiling so I knew it was. "I think so, yes. If she only had Edward's gift she'd have to hear everyone all the time. But she must have a piece of your shield inside her so she can choose to block the thoughts she doesn't want to listen to. Remarkable." He added for good measure.

I turned back to Bella. "See, love? The very best of us both."

Bella was really smiling now, her shoulders relaxed and she began to laugh. Quietly at first and then with real relish. "The very best. Come here you sneaky monkey." She reached for Nessa and the little girl leapt from my arms to her mothers in relief.

Nessa put her fingers to Bella's cheek and replayed the laughter she'd just heard. It was even more beautiful second time around because of the look in Bella's eyes as she gazed at our amazing daughter. "I'm like you too, mommy." Nessa smiled.

"You certainly are." Bella kissed her cheek and hugged her tight. "Let's go and talk to Zaffy." She reached for my hand and we went to where Zafrina sat with Alistair.

**BPOV**

Things were changing so fast. The war was over, Edward was going to head the first council, the school would open and my daughter could read minds.

Jesus, how was I supposed to cope with it all? I had a cavernous vampire mind but it still wasn't big enough to handle all of that all at once.

I was still reeling from the new information when the Irish announced they were heading off. They promised to come visit once Rosie and Emmett had returned. We all waved them off happily.

Susan, Holly and Adam were the next to leave us. They said their goodbyes to us as we headed back to the cottage on Tuesday evening. They would be gone before first light and would miss us if we arrived at our normal time.

I assumed the Australians would travel with them because they'd arrived as one group but Jonathon made no move to extract his coven from Forks. I asked Edward about it that night and he said it was because Randall was as yet undecided about where he wanted to be. Being Randall's sire Jonathon felt he should stay and guide his 'child' while the decision was being mulled over.

I knew from Kate that she wanted Randall, permanently, and I could tell by the way Randall looked at her that he felt the same. It was just the logistics that had to be worked out. Like Aro, Randall couldn't go to Denali with the cousins unless he agreed to change his diet. He seemed willing to try which was a good start.

A day later the decision was announced. Nessa flung herself at Randall in excitement when he announced that he had decided to join the Denali coven. Nessa told him that animal blood was very tasty and that if he closed his eyes it wasn't so bad. Everyone laughed and Carlisle very proudly shook the younger man's hand. Carlisle always did enjoy a new convert.

Carlisle told us that night that Eric's mate May would give birth anytime. It was very quiet in the house that night as we all thought about the sacrifice she was going to have to make. It was one thing to be excited about the addition of a baby to the house, another to think about the way that it was going to have to happen.

Jonathon took his coven home the next day. Hitching a ride to the airport was the Turkish coven. The six of them, the Australians and the Turkish, piled into the little rental car for the journey to Port Angeles in good spirits. It was very quiet in the house without the Australians in it. Nessa in particular missed Ethan. He enthralled her daily with stories about his country and his people, not to mention the cockatoos, kangaroos and koalas that held Nessa's attention for hours.

Saying goodbye to Peter and Charlotte was hard. Peter had been such an integral part of the planning of the war, it would feel strange not to see his smiling face every day at fight training. Charlotte always made the house seem more alive when she was in it, her bubbly personality and her penchant for annoying Jasper so easily would be sorely missed.

Watching them say goodbye to Randall was particularly difficult. He would send for his things – although he didn't own much, just a few personal things reserved from when he was human – and would settle in Denali with the others straight away.

On Thursday evening our friends Charles and Makenna headed for their temporary home in Germany once again. Alistair had chosen to stay behind for a bit longer and we all knew that was because of his recent attachment to Zaffy. They slipped off into the forest again that night and didn't return for three days.

By then we'd seen off Marcus and Renata, alone. Nathaniel was planning to travel with Angelica to her home in Brazil. They weren't staying, though. They were going to pack up her things, she was going to live with Nathaniel in Florence from now on. Nessa was so excited about that. She likened it to her and Seth one day living together in Forks. I hoped that would still be possible, that we'd work out a way that they could slip into society as a couple one day without having to explain where she came from and how she grew up so fast to those who knew of her now. It was far enough away that I could put it out of my mind a little longer though.

When Samuel, Beatriz, Angelica and their guest Nathaniel left the following morning we were only left with the three Amazon women, their suitors and the Denali clan and their newest member Randall left at the big house and in town.

I hoped they wouldn't leave too soon. I loved having the cousins there and Edward still had not made his peace with Eleazar. They moved around each other as though they were opposite poles on a magnet. It was obvious that Eleazar wanted to talk but Edward was stubborn and even my begging wouldn't shift him. He told me, in confidence, that he'd talk to Eleazar again when he was good and ready. In the end he was forced to speak to the very repentant older man when the cousins announced they were leaving.

Eleazar cornered him at the big house that morning and after a nudge from me and a pleading look – and probably a very insistent silent plea from Carlisle – Edward agreed to at least talk to Eleazar before he left for Alaska.

I watched the two of them walk down the yard towards the river and hoped that if they couldn't sort out their differences that they'd at least put the hostility aside and try to be civil when they were forced into the same room in future.

They'd been gone about twenty minutes when the house phone rang. I heard Esme answer it and then a shriek. I ran through the kitchen and into the dining room expecting to see a problem. Esme's shout had been so loud everyone had come running, including all the Denali girls and Randall, the Amazon women and the three boys who lusted after them. Everyone looked panicked, just like me, except for Alice who stood on the first floor landing grinning like an idiot. Whatever had happened she already knew.

Esme held the handset in her hand but the line had been disconnected, I could hear the beeping on the other end.

"What is it?" Jasper asked cautiously.

"I've got a new grandchild." She beamed.

**Romania**

The courtyard was teeming with tourists, again. The biting wind never deterred them. They came by the hundred to get a glimpse inside castle life. The stalls did a brisk trade despite the colder weather.

The turrets of the castle rose out of the side of the rock as if they'd grown there, but mortal men had toiled for decades to carve them from the mountainside by hand. Atop each tower was a spiked cross not unlike those that adorned the churches in Eastern Europe.

The castle was a city within a city. Hundreds lived within its walls. Many more travelled from the nearby towns to work within those walls. The farmlands that stretched away from the castle for miles required year round back breaking work. Wheat, corn and barley crops adorned each field as though a tapestry were being worked from their coloured threads.

In many ways it was a scene plucked from a history book. If one stood still long enough he'd see the iron scythe wielded by the wheat harvesters alongside modern farm machinery. Somewhere in the middle the two worlds, ancient and modern, met. The castle leant itself to ancient history but inside it was filled with opulence and every modern convenience.

It could've been anywhere in Europe. Germany, Austria, Switzerland all had castles such as this. But this was Romania and this castle was no ordinary castle.

In western Romania, along the Mures River, laid a town called Deva. Where the flats of the town joined the foot of the mountain a winding cobbled road led upwards into the clouds. At the very top stood the castle. Nestled into the rocks it rose two hundred feet above the town.

Deep in the bowels of it lived an army of servants, peasants loyal to the ancient family who had lived in the castle for thousands of years. There were cleaners and maids, secretaries and advisors and there were gardeners and cooks.

High in the castles towers and suites lived a family borne of centuries of legend and intrigue. It had once been a great family. Stefan and his bride Elena. Vladimir and his wife Ana. Together the four raised two children not born of their flesh. Daria, the girl, was found abandoned as a newborn hybrid and raised as a daughter safe inside the castle walls. Raul a decade later, turned into a son by Stefan when he'd suffered a dreadful accident inside the keep.

But now the family stood bereaved. Once again safe inside the castle walls the three remaining members returned to their duties as land owners. Ana, now a widow mourned the loss of her husband in quiet contemplation high up in her tower suite. She left only to feed once or twice a month, no more. She embroidered and made lace and lived a quiet solitary life of grieving.

Daria took on the duties of her father and learned to run the farms and keep the castle alive. She took no pleasure in the hunt or in those brought to her for nourishment. She turned to her human side and began to sustain herself on foods reaped from the fields. She existed but she did not live. She yearned for what she'd seen. Freedom, love and loyalty. She'd seen them, in that field, standing defiant. She'd heard their admissions of love and support before the slaughter began. She'd seen them embracing and touching, loving and supporting each other. She wanted what they had but had no way to attain it. Alone while surrounded by humans she craved the company of another such as she, for she straddled the centre of a world she did not understand. Neither human nor supernatural, she hovered between the two. She'd seen others such as herself in that field and longed to know them. Desperate to know more about what she was.

Raul inherited his father's place at the forefront of castle life. He was leader, judge and jury and he threw himself into the role with gusto. With his people he was firm but fair and always listened hard to grievances before passing judgement. He helped his sister with the logistics of running the farms and surrounded himself with intelligent and loyal advisors in whom he could confide and receive guidance.

In the year after his father's murder he fought the urge for revenge. He understood, more than most, the reasoning behind the war. He hadn't agreed with his father's appraisal of the situation and had begged him to reconsider making the trip that had ultimately led to his death.

He took no pleasure in the social scene within the castle as he had before the trip. He sat on his throne and looked over festivities but did not partake. The women in whom he'd sought physical release previous were now shunned and he'd moved a couple of them on to other towns so he did not have to deal with them. It was cruel and he gave no excuses for it.

There was a darkness growing inside him. He felt it as though it was a cancer, infesting his gut and his chest. He fought this darkness, tried to push it into a recess in his mind where it could not affect him, but it was strong, stronger than his resolve.

With each passing season it grew until it consumed his entire being.

When the third anniversary of his father's death arrived he gave in to the blackness inside his soul and tore a girl away from the bosom of her family. In the quiet of his suite he took her to his bed. She didn't protest. Most of them didn't.

He took from her what his body desired and at the height of her pleasure he sank his teeth into her throat. As he drank from her his perception of himself, of her, began to shift. He had in his grasp the means to begin again. He could make good what his father had begun.

He withdrew his teeth from her silken flesh in enough time to save her mortal life. She was weak but she still breathed. He stood over her for a long while and battled with himself over the decision he was about to make.

He returned to her side on the bed and took her wrist to his lips. He licked his teeth and brought forth his venom. He bit down on her wrist and forced as much of it into her system as he could. He shifted on the mattress and repeated it over and over, all along her body, until she screamed and writhed with agony as the fire began burning in her veins.

He stepped away and watched her flail.

She was to be the first of many.

"I'm coming for you, Edward Cullen." He muttered as he left the room to choose another.

* * *

**A/N: Well, we are at the end of this book. It is done and I am spent. **

**I truly hope you've enjoyed it. I'd love to know what you thought of this last chapter, and the book as a whole, so please review and let me know. I will look forward to your thoughts, both good and bad. **

**I have deliberately left certain holes in the stories of some characters in this chapter. As you know there is a small side story regarding Emmett and Rosalie's baby. There may be other short pieces as well, perhaps Zafrina and Alistairs return to the jungle and maybe I'll have a crack at Randall and Kate's first months in Alaska. I have fallen rather in lust with our rogue Randall ;)**

**Thank you to everyone who has come along with me on this. Thank you for your encouragement and your support along the way. A big thank you to Patchar and Scrapjul for all their support. Our 'sessions' of Cullen gossip have helped me in ways you'll never understand :) To Tish, party hard girl! Thank you for your encouragement all along the way. **

**As yet I have no name for the next book, all suggestions will be gratefully accepted. **

**Rosies Angel (The short story of Emmett and Rosalie's baby) will appear in the next few hours. **

**Love to you all, **

**maxi**

**xxxx**


	61. Chapter 61

**A/N: ****I have been asked to provide a copy of the war map and wanted to offer it to anyone else who may be having difficulty visualizing what I've tried to do.**

**Or, if you just want a look, send me a message and I'll email it to you too!**

**It is just a jpeg image and might help if you are getting confused or having trouble with so many vampires in one space!**

**Maxi**

**xxx**


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